WATCH: Comedian Gets Anti-Masker to Admit He’s an Idiot After Ranting About Oregano Oil as Covid Cure

Sarah RumpfMar 22nd, 2021, 8:09 pm
 

Comedian Walter Masterson managed to provide an excellent illustration of both the Dunning-Kruger Effect and Occam’s Razor in a less-than-one-minute TikTok video of his conversation with an anti-masker — and it ends with quite the punch line.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a theory about cognitive biases named after social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, stating that people of high ability at a particular task tend to underestimate their skills based on a misperception of others’ abilities, and — more relevant for Masterson’s video — people of low ability at a particular task also lack the ability to properly assess their own skills, leading them to overestimate themselves.

Occam’s Razor, attributed to an 14th century English Franciscan friar named William of Ockham, is a problem-solving principle that urges a preference for simple and understandable hypotheses over more complex or convoluted ones. Entia non-sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem (Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity) in the original Latin; “Keep it simple, stupid,” as the more familiar vernacular.

“I went to an ANTI-MASKER rally and explained Dunning-Kruger to them,” tweeted Masterson with his 42-second video. “I think he gets it!”

“You can take oregano oil,” the unnamed and unmasked man confidently tells Masterson. “You can dilute 10 drops of oregano oil, and drink that over the course of the morning, and do that 10 days in a row, and your Covid symptoms will be gone.”

It should go without saying, but oregano oil is not a recognized cure for Covid-19 or even a treatment to alleviate its symptoms. A variety of retailers sell it as a purported immune booster, but it has no verified Covid treatment applications and any legal advertisement for it will include a disclaimer that “Statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition.”

“I think that’s total f***ing bullsh**,” was Masterson’s more concise reaction.

“I honestly don’t care what you think,” the man replied, undeterred. “I don’t think you’ve done your research.”

“Do you understand how Dunning-Kruger works?” asked Masterson.

After a hostile response from the man, Masterson explained it as “the stupidest people in the room think they’re the smartest.”

“Is your name Dunning-Kruger?” the man scoffed. “What are you going to come out with next, Occam’s Razor? The simplest explanation is that I’m an idiot?”

Well…yeah.

Masterson also posted another amusing video clip with the same man where he is very agitated about the pandemic issues being “serious business for humanity.”

Watch the videos above, via Walter Masterson on Twitter.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.