I think everyone holds to at least one notion that is completely bonkers. It’s not exactly “Dunning–Kruger” but something else. However, the similarity is that one cannot see one’s own irrationality.
Some manifestations may look like superstition. For example, even though someone may acknowledge to others that throwing salt over the shoulder can do nothing, they’re still compelled to do it. I probably have an idea about the best way to do backyard grilling that will never change. My wife reliably points out many of the beliefs or notions I have in many areas that make absolutely no sense to her. I know she is correct in most assessments of other people and so it’s reasonable to conclude that she’s probably right about me. Still, I don’t always believe that and in some cases I’m certain I never will. Other people are ridden by different “imps of the perverse”, sometimes writing tomes and self-publishing books about ideas that they are convinced everyone else has obviously completely overlooked. You can point out the issues with their ideas but that effort is not going to change their views.
Assuming everyone has at least one, and let’s be frank, likely more than one completely ape-sh*t idea in their heads that they’ll never be talked out of, I believe the best one can hope for is that it doesn’t come out in one’s profession or outside polite circles. The problem may be interpreted initially as hubris but with time it will come across as a pathology. And it is, but it’s a pathology we all have. It often doesn’t always impact our life in areas outside a narrow range but it can also affect us viscerally. And so, over time, after watching and participating in many internet discussions, I’ve come to appreciate the phrase:
It is better to try and fail than to never try at all . . . unless it is skydiving or rock climbing.
The key is to not marry yourself to the idea to the point where you can’t let it go. There is nothing wrong with fighting for an idea, but when it is obvious to everyone that it just doesn’t work it is time to leave it on the ever growing pile of wrong ideas. Sometimes you have to invent 1,000 ways to not make a lightbulb before you invent a way to make a lightbulb.
Personally, I LOVE ape st crazy ideas. Discoveries and inventions begin with ape st crazy ideas. Innovations are generated by crazy ideas. And as for theories, only thinkers have theories, crazy or not. “You’re going to do WHAT with that round rock?? The sun is the center of the solar system?? You’re crazy, everybody knows it’s the Earth! You going to find a New World? You’re crazy— you’re going to sail off the edge! Light travels at a SPEED? C’mon Einstein, get real. Madame Curie, you’re going to make WHAT out of moldy bread??”
