David Dunning, along with Justin Kruger, published a paper called Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. The paper describes what is now known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, eloquently stated by Dunning himself:
“In many cases, incompetence does not leave people disoriented, perplexed, or cautious. Instead, the incompetent are often blessed with an inappropriate confidence, buoyed by something that feels to them like knowledge.”
and this is why 15-year-olds on tumblr feel qualified to make the rules, gatekeep, lecture, and police everyone else. they’re at that first peak, where realizing there’s a problem and someone oughtta solve it looks like all there is to know.