Dunning-Kruger Effect, negative resistance, phase transitions, breaking sound and light barriers

Vallis | Video Esssays: The Irony of the Dunning-Kruger Effect at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcfRe15I47I

This is a common curve in electrodynamics where the descending region after the peak, is said to have “negative resistance” There are quite a few places where it shows up where variable resistance is possible. There the axes are voltage (Volts) or pressure (Pascal or Newtons/Meter^2) or energy density (Joules/Meter^3) on the horizontal axis and current (Amperes or events per second) on the vertical. The thing about these curves is they support resonance and oscillatory solutions that are quantifiable, reproducible and practical. In the Franck-Hertz experiments in a plasma, the ionization can have many peaks. In the atmosphere, fluids, or even vacuum, the drag coefficient is a function of speed and depends on the Reynolds number in a measurable way that can be calculated and simulated. Because these can be highly non-linear and have orders of magnitude power range, applying machine learning to these non-linear effects, for humans, human groups and physical phenomena often creates new industries, tools and transformations.

Competence is like energy or capacity to do things. So thinking of “a person’s energy density” or a country, a corporation, or a group’s – makes sense. The confidence might be a speed or a sense of exhilaration. Or the speed and flow when things fit exactly in place with seemingly no effort. Or the rate of expansion of investments in new industries and enterprises or ideas. When you see these curves there is often the potential to connect things. Some work, other do not. But seeing things in new ways, and from different viewpoints seems to be always valuable and a safety mechanism for evolving species and groups.

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Richard Collins, The Internet Foundation