A Very Stable Genius brimming with smug confidence told Jason Selvig of the Good Liars that hammers kill more people than guns and challenged Selvig to look it up on Google. Selvig looked it up on Google and told the Very Stable Genius he was wrong.
The Very Stable Genius refused to acknowledge that he was wrong, which is a hallmark of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, a cognitive bias in which people with low expertise mistakenly think they are more knowledgable than they are. This often leads to overconfidence and poor decision-making.
Let's hope the Very Stable Genius doesn't have access to any hammers.
From the video:
Very Stable Genius: More people and more crime is committed and more people are killed with hammers every year than guns. Look at the facts.
Jason Selvig: I will look that up. I don't think that's true. Actually.
Very Stable Genius: It's true
Jason Selvig: in the United States though?
Very Stable Genius: Sir, that is true. Look it up. You can Google it. It's true. It's actually true.
Jason Selvig: So the number of murder victims and the weapons used. Okay, number one, s 8,029. Number two, firearms type not stated 4,863. Number three knives or cutting instruments, personal weapons, fists, feet, then rifles at 455, then blunt objects, clubs hammers. 393. The hammers — that stat is just wrong.
Very Stable Genius: Back to your question. The Second Amendment is still my right and it's still important to me.
You have to wonder how many times the Very Stable Genius spouted his false statistic to friends, family, members, and strangers. You also have to wonder if he'll keep telling people that hammers kill more people than guns.
