Honest Self-evaluation and Jumbo Shrimp
Dear Mosaic Family,
Are you funny? You're probably not as funny as you think.
Psychologists David Dunning Justin Kruger, supplied scientific evidence that incompetence is bliss with their famous study, “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments,” which appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Dunning and Kruger staged a series of experiment to show that honest self-evaluation is a contradiction in terms. In one experiment, they asked 65 test subjects to rate the funniness of certain jokes. They then compared each test subject’s ratings with those of eight professional comedians. Some of the participants repeatedly couldn’t predict what others would find funny—yet described themselves as excellent judges of humor (not unlike Michael Scott in The Office). Although less colorful, Dunning and Kruger’s other experiments—involving grammar and logic—yielded similar results. They write, "People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains... they hold overly optimistic and miscalibrated views about themselves."
Incompetence, the study demonstrated, represents a "dismaying troika of cluelessness: Incompetent people don’t perform up to speed, don’t recognize their lack of competence, and don’t recognize the competence of others.
If growth can't happen apart from an honest self-evaluation, and we can't give ourselves an honest self-evaluation, then how are we supposed to grow? How are we supposed to change if we don't think we need to? Great question.
This is exactly what we'll be talking about tomorrow as we look at the second part of Nehemiah 2, where Nehemiah spends time closely evaluating the brokenness of Jerusalem's walls, prior to coming up with a plan for restoration. Join us tomorrow!
Praying for you,
Pastor Jan
Announcements:
College Lunch. Sunday, October 8th, 1pm. Great time of food and fellowship! This is a wonderful opportunity to meet all the other amazing college students at Mosaic!
Baptism Sunday. Sunday, October 8th. If you're interested in getting baptized, email admin@mosaicboston.com by September 25th.
Membership Class. Sunday, October 15th, 1-3pm. If you are interested in attending this class, please email admin@ mosaicboston.com to RSVP.
Childcare at the 11:15 service. The amazing volunteers of Mosaic now offer childcare during the 11:15 service, in addition to Mini Mosaic at the 9:30service.
Mosaic Youth Group. Every Sunday, Mosaic holds a youth group gathering during the 9:30service. If you know anyone looking for a youth group, let them know!
Pre-service Prayer. Join us in the upper hallway of the Temple Ohabei Shalom for a time of pre-service prayer on Sundays at 8:45AM and 4:30PM. It's an opportunity for us to pray for the church, the city, and the world.
Mosaic Boston App. Did you know Mosaic has an app? You can download it here.
(Pre-)Marital Training Day. Saturday, November 18th, 10am-2pm. Penn-Sperro Hall (downstairs at the temple). If you and your significant other are preparing for marriage in the near future, you're welcome to join us for this one day event. Recently married couples are welcome as well. Please RSVP since space and babysitting is limited: admin@mosaicboston.com. Lunch provided!
Songs for Sunday. If you would like to know what we'll be singing on Sunday (so you can be ready to sing your heart out!) you can find the playlist here.
Give to Fund the Mission. Giving is a joyful and sacrificial act of worship to our Lord, who has given everything to us and for us. We offer you the opportunity to invest in God's mission here. The easiest way to give your tax-deductible gift is through our secure portal on our website, found here.