If you overestimate how much people understand you. You are cursed. It’s that simple.
Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. This is more prevalent in the teaching profession where teachers and lecturers rush through the topics as they if they are teaching their peers. They explain completely unfamiliar subjects to you as if you’re fully deep into them on a day-to-day basis. And you’ve thought, “How could you possibly think I would know what you’re talking about?”
The Curse of Knowledge affects all of us regardless of our station in life but its effects are felt most acutely in highly specialized fields that require a lot of study or experience in order to understand. You can be on either side, giving or receiving end. Many studies have been done to demonstrate this. The Psychologist Elizabeth Newton’s 1990 study is a perfect example of how the curse works its counterproductive ways.
How you can help reverse the curse.
- Focus on telling a story. This will help you cut through the curse of knowledge by naturally doing away with jargon and buzzwords, and help you paint scenes with concrete details to convey meaning.
- Seek outside perspectives
- Talk and engage with people or your students
- Out of sight, out of mind. So keep in contact with your audience or friends. If not you will miss valuable opportunities to build trust, stories, and knowledge necessary for people to care whether you exist or not.
