Everyone Thinks They’re Above Average

Startups & Tech

Stack Overflow recently released its 2019 Survey Results.

The results are a treasure trove of insights about the the developer community, but I was particularly amused by this:

We asked respondents to evaluate their own competence, for the specific work they do and years of experience they have, and almost 70% of respondents say they are above average…

This statistically impossible belief isn’t unique to developers, however.

In fact, the mistaken belief that you’re superior to others is so pervasive there’s actually a name for it: illusory superiority.

Make of that what you will.