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Have you ever argued with someone who’s super confident about a topic, only to realize they actually don’t know much about it? It’s like they think they’re experts, but the more they talk, the clearer it gets that they barely understand what they’re saying. There’s a name for that — it’s called the Dunning-Kruger Effect. And honestly, you can often see this happen with some Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) debaters when they defend their doctrines.
Take their belief about Sunday worship, for example. Many SDA members love to claim that Christians only started worshiping on Sundays because Emperor Constantine ordered it in 321 AD. They’ll say it like it’s an open-and-shut case. However, here’s the thing — the Bible itself already shows Christians gathering on the first day of the week, dating back to the time of the apostles (see Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2). History also confirms this practice long before Constantine came along. But since a lot of SDA folks rely too much on their own church writers like Ellen G. White, they end up confidently repeating wrong information without realizing it.
Another example is the famous SDA teaching about the Investigative Judgment in 1844. If you’ve ever heard them talk about Daniel 8:14, you’ll notice how convinced they are that this verse is about a judgment happening in heaven starting in 1844. The problem is, most Christian scholars — whether Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox — agree that the verse is really about a historical event involving Antiochus Epiphanes in the 2nd century BC. But since many SDA defenders never really check what other biblical scholars have said about it, they jump into debates assuming their interpretation is the only possible one.
The Bible actually warns about this kind of attitude. Proverbs 18:2 says, “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” That’s exactly what the Dunning-Kruger Effect looks like — people are more interested in sounding right than actually learning. And sadly, a lot of SDA defenders fall into this trap without knowing it.
At the end of the day, it’s not about looking down on people who believe differently, but it’s a reminder for all of us to stay humble. It’s okay to admit when we don’t know something. The truth is, no one learns anything new if we’re too busy pretending we already know it all. So next time you find yourself in a debate with a super confident SDA defender, just remember — sometimes it’s the Dunning-Kruger Effect talking.
Lesson:
- Be humble.
- Study widely.
- Test your beliefs.
- Avoid the Dunning-Kruger trap.
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Great article! I have seen this phenomenon 1st hand, but sadly not just with Adventists. I will have to file away the name Dunning and Kruger for future use. There was kind of false confidence I've read about before, I don't know if it is the same thing. Actually two ones. One where stupid people overestimate their abilities and another where successful people have strong opinions about stuff they know nothing about and assume competence that isn't there believing that the new area will be just like their pet wheelhouse.
ReplyDeleteI'm very happy running across this article and relearning that term! I was eventually going to use Grok to figure out what it was but you naming it again was really great.
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