The “curse of knowledge”

The “curse of knowledge”

It is a cognitive bias that describes the fact that when you know something, it's very difficult to know what it's like not to know it.

The things you know seem so obvious to you and you assume that everyone else knows them too.

642 people saved this idea

Save it with our free app:

Download on the AppStore
4.8Deepstash rating on AppStore
Get it on Google Play
4.8Deepstash rating on Google Play

IDEA EXTRACTED FROM:

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker: The No. 1 communication mistake that even smart people make

5 ideas
similar_blocks_chunkswww.cnbc.com
Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker: The No. 1 communication mistake that even smart people make

TOPICS:

RELATED IDEAS:

  • Examples of the egocentric bias

    When you are giving a public talk, you assume that your nervousness is more apparent to others than is actually the c...

    The Egocentric Bias: Why It's Hard to See Things from a Different Perspective

  • Survivorship Bias

    It's our tendency to concentrate on the people who end up winning  —the survivors—and mistakenly assume that amb...

    7 Overlooked Biases That Creep Into Your Work (And Undermine Its Success)

  • Share your agenda

    Share your agenda

    Don't assume people will automatically respect the fact that while you're working from home, you're still working. ...

    10 Ways to Make Working From Home More Productive (and Free Up More Time for Yourself)

  • The curse of knowledge

    The curse of knowledge

    ... is a cognitive bias that causes people to fail to account for the fact that others don’t know the same things tha...

    The Curse of Knowledge: What It Is and How to Account for It

  • Why we experience the curse of knowledge

    Since we spend the majority of the time experiencing things from our own perspective, we struggle to imagine the pers...

    The Curse of Knowledge: What It Is and How to Account for It

  • Minimize the curse of knowledge

    You need to be conscious of the fact that people have different levels of knowledge than you. Ask for feedback from ...

    The Curse of Knowledge: What It Is and How to Account for It

  • The Dunning-Kruger effect

    The Dunning-Kruger effect

    It's a type of cognitive bias in which people believe that they are smarter and more capable than they really are. In...

    Intellectual humility: the importance of knowing you might be wrong

  • The bandwagon effect

    It's a cognitive bias that causes people to think or act in a certain manner because they believe that other people a...

    The Bandwagon Effect: Why People Tend to Follow the Crowd

  • Surprise The Reader

    Surprise The Reader

    To do it, you must know what your audience expects from the type of writing you’re doing and then defy it. Without ...

    How To Improve Your Writing: 5 Secrets From Hollywood - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

  • The Curse Of Knowledge

    Once you know something you assume others do too. It’s human nature. And that leads to bad writing. 'The curse of k...

    6 Tips to Help You Be a Better Writer

  • The Just-World Hypothesis

    The Just-World Hypothesis

    Is a cognitive bias that causes us to assume that people’s actions always lead to fair consequences, meaning that tho...

    The Just-World Hypothesis: On the Belief that Everyone Gets What They Deserve

  • The Halo Effect

    The Halo Effect

    It's a cognitive bias that makes us trust a person’s advice in one area of life simply because they are an expert in ...

    Most People Think This Is A Smart Habit, But It's Actually Brain-Damaging