One cognitive bias that we in the booth know all too well is the Dunning-Kruger Effect: the tendency for individuals with limited knowledge in a domain to overestimate their competence, while true experts often underestimate theirs. In interpreting, this psychological phenomenon is not just theoretical — it’s operational. And it has real-world consequences.
Hilda Tejada, former president of the Mexican Association of Conference Interpreters, speaks with Sergio Alarcón about the nature of professional interpreting.
The history of interpretation in Mexico dates back to the very first encounters between two worlds. Long before the profession existed as we know it today, there were already voices bridging cultures, facilitating negotiations—and at times, betrayals—and building communication between civilizations that shared neither language nor worldview, but shared land and, eventually, destiny.
