The Lemon Juice Bandit

On the night of April 19th 1995, local news in Pittsburgh aired dramatic footage of two bank robberies that had taken place that day. The footage captured great images of his face – he wore no mask – and showed the suspect holding a gun to the teller in broad daylight. Police had been adamant that the news show the footage, and sure enough, in a matter of minutes they had their man identified.

At five foot six and 270 pounds McArthur Wheeler is a hard man to miss. With a dead match on the physical description and images, within an hour of the evening news, police arrived at his Mckeesport, PA home to make the arrest. A shocked and alarmed McArthur then made one of the most bizarre statements in criminal history; “But I wore the juice!”.

It that statement left you scratching your head, you aren’t alone. It wasn’t until police began questioning that it started to make any kind of sense. Wheeler explained to police that he had rubbed lemon juice on his face to make it invisible to security cameras. It took some time, but Pittsburgh detectives eventually realized that he wasn’t insane, and he wasn’t inebriated; he was just incredibly misinformed.

See, Wheeler liked to read spy novels. One of the first things he learned in these books is the usefulness of lemon juice as invisible ink. He logically deduced that the juice could have a similar effect if used as a disguise. He even went as far as to test his theory. He applied the juice and snapped a polaroid of himself. Sure enough, in his photo, he couldn’t see his face.  What more proof did he need.

Wheeler was dumbfounded as to why his plan had not worked. It worked when he tested it at home. Why had it failed on the cameras at the bank? To those reading, the answer may seem quite obvious. Perhaps while Wheeler was suffering the severe burn of lemon juice to the eyes, he maybe, just maybe, had trouble aiming a camera at himself, and accidentally snapped a picture of the wall behind him.

Whatever the real reason for the failed lemon juice experiment, Wheeler found himself in both jail, and in the annals of the world’s dumbest criminals. The 1996 World Almanac even highlighted his story as such a case of criminal stupidity. That write up gained the attention of Cornell psychology professor David Dunning. He noticed in this tale a universal truth; those most lacking in knowledge, are the least able to appreciate that lack. Put into more simplistic terms’ the dumbest among us, are too dumb to even realize they are dumb. This observation would lead to what has now become known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

To test the premise, Dunning and a graduate student, Justin Kruger, embarked on a series of experiments. They quizzed students on subjects ranging from grammar to logic, and then followed up by asking students to estimate what they thought they scored. They found two distinct groups of students who thought they had scored very well on their quizzes. The students who had performed the best on the quiz, has accurately predicted that they had scored well. The students who had performed the worst on the quiz, also had also predicted they would score well.

The researched observed that the only way to know how well you did on a grammar test, is to know grammar. Those most lacking that knowledge, were the least able to estimate their performance. They were unaware of their ignorance. They had a mental blind spot.

Now, you may read the story of McArthur Wheeler and think, wow, I’d never do something like that. You’re right. You wouldn’t do something like that. But here is the thing about blind spots.  Both literally and metaphorically, you don’t know they are there. We all have them. We just don’t know it.

I wouldn’t attempt to disguise myself with lemon juice (or rob a bank for that matter). But until my wife pointed it out recently, I was completely unaware that it is no longer necessary to use two spaces between sentences. I am still struggling through writing this to fight the instinct to double space.

There really is only one way to discover your blind spots. That is to ask for help. Things that we are completely missing, are often blatantly obvious to those on the outside. Have someone else review your budget.  Have a coworker double check your work. Hire an expert to fix your plumbing. The first step to ever overcoming the Dunning-Kruger effect, is acknowledging that the first place to look for it, is in the mirror. 

The most dangerous aspect of the Dunning-Kruger effect, is that by definition, the places where we are most vulnerable, are the last places we would look. I know I struggle with graphic design, so I seek help. But I’m great at marketing so I don’t need any help there…right?

There are some instances where hanging around in the Dunning-Kruger clubhouse really won’t be catastrophic. If you’re a Dunning-Kruger cook, your family may have to learn to deal with burnt pizza. If you’re a Dunning-Kruger saxophonist, the neighborhood may need to buy earplugs. But, if you’re a Dunning-Kruger driver, your life could be at risk. If you’re a Dunning-Kruger  investor, you may lose your life savings.

My advice, don’t worry about removing all of your blind spots. You never will. Take a look at the things you think you are competent at. Then pay close attention to those things where the results would be catastrophic if it turns out that in fact it is your blind spot. On those things, seek advice.