Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.
In last night’s interview with Ivan Ivanović, writer, poet, and academician Matija Bečković talks about people who: “They don’t know anything, but they know that there is no God. These are people who, therefore, know what no one knows. Those same people, when you ask them how much is 9×8, they answer, – where to find it, that’s the most difficult.” – continued Bečković jokingly.
I hope we can all agree that it is very easy to overestimate your capabilities.
According to a series of studies done by C. L. Downing, people with below-average IQ tend to overestimate their IQ. In contrast, people with above-average IQ tend to underestimate their IQ. In a similar vein, British psychologist Adrian Furnham’s research suggests that men on average tend to overestimate their intelligence, while women tend to underestimate it. Coincidence? These studies, which are interesting in a practical sense, are quite worrying in a practical sense. They show us that if we are good at something, then we know that we are good at it. But if we’re bad at it, we still think we’re good at it. In fact, the worse we are, the more we overestimate how good we are at it.
Israel’s King Zedekiah overestimated his capabilities when he rebelled against the Babylonian king, even though Jeremiah had been prophesying for years that Judah deserved the fate that befell. The result was a destroyed kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem, Zedekiah’s sons were killed before their father’s eyes. Sidikija was blinded and taken into captivity where he died. His eyes last saw the result of his pride (Jeremiah 52).
Because if anyone thinks that he is anything, but he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. Let everyone examine his own work and then he will have something to boast about in himself, and not in comparison with others (Galatians 6:3-4).
Father, help me to get the right image of myself and to understand that I need to accept myself with all the limitations and strengths I have because what I am coming from you and you can use it for your glory.