In a study just published in the journal Intelligence， using search terms such as "stupid thing to do"， Balazs Aczel and his colleagues compiled a collection of stories describing stupid mistakes from sources such as The Huffington Post and TMZ． The researchers then had a sample of university students rate each story on the responsibility of the people involved， the influence of the situation， the seriousness of the consequences， and other factors．
Analyses of the subjects' ratings revealed three varieties of stupid mistakes． The first is when a person's confidence goes beyond their skill， as when a Pittsburgh man robbed two banks in broad daylight without wearing a disguise， believing that lemon juice he had rubbed on his face would make him invisible to security cameras．
The confidence-skill disconnection has been named the Dunning-Kruger effect， after a study by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger． Dunning and Kruger had Cornell undergraduates perform tests of humor， logic， and grammar， and then rate how well they think they performed compared to other subjects in the study． The worst performing subjects， whose scores put them in the 12th percentile， estimated that they had performed in the 62nd percentile． Summarizing the findings， Dunning noted， "Poor performers-and we are all poor performers at some things-fail to see the flaws in their thinking or the answers they lack．" When we think we are at our best is sometimes when we are at our objective worst．
As any number of political scandals illustrate， the second type of stupid mistake involves impulsive acts-when we seem unable to keep our behavior in check． In the scandal that became known as Weinergate， former U．S． representative Anthony Weiner sent blue texts and pictures of himself to women he met on Facebook． （After resigning， Weiner continued his cyber-dalliances， and then fell prey to the Dunning-Kruger effect when he overestimated his support in the 2013 New York City mayoral primary； he received 5% of the vote．）
The final variety of stupid mistake involves failing to concentrate-Homer Simpsonesque D'oh moments． As arguably the best example from American sports history， in the 1929 Rose Bowl， University of California star Roy Riegels recovered a fumble （失误球） and returned it 65 yards the wrong way． Riegel's mistake set up a safety for Georgia Tech， which turned out to be the deciding factor in the opponent's victory． Aczel and colleagues' analyses revealed that subjects viewed this category of stupid mistake as the least stupid．
It is， of course， unrealistic to think that we could ever eliminate human error． To err （犯错） will always be human． However， this research gives us a better description of our failings and weaknesses， and a place to start in thinking about interventions and prescriptions to help us err less． This research also reminds us of our shared human weaknesses． We all tend to overestimate our abilities， to make impulsive decisions， and to fail to keep attention． This simple realization makes stupid mistakes seem， perhaps， a little less stupid - and a little more human．
| Title： Why you make breathtakingly stupid mistakes |
| （1） ______ of the research | ● Compiling stories about stupid mistakes from some sources．
● Rating the stories on the factors like responsibilities， influence， etc．
● （2） ______ how the subjects rate the stories． |
| Types of stupid mistakes | Confidence-skill disconnection | ● It happens when confidence （3） ______ skill．
Eg． A man（4） ______ lemon juice on his face robbed banks，thinking he would not be found out．
● The outcome may be just the （5） ______ when we overestimate our skills． |
| Impulsive acts | ● We cannot put our behavior under （6） ______
Eg． Weiner disturbed women by sending blue texts and pictures， which put him at a disadvantage in mayoral primary． |
| （7） ______ of attention | ● Though viewed as the least stupid， it can be a deciding factor in many cases．
Eg． Roy Riegel's running the wrong way with a fumble （8） ______ for Georgia Tech winning the game． |
| Value of the research | ● Providing us with a clear image of our failings and weaknesses．
● Helping us err less though we are （9） ______ to stay away from error．
● Enabling us to evaluate our abilities objectively， make rational decisions and always get
（10） ______ |