Imagine a scene where a tech-savvy individual is trying to help a relative who is not comfortable with technology to use a smartphone. Does this sound familiar? Does it happen at your homes?

The tech-savvy person might take for granted the knowledge of swiping, long-pressing, or using various apps, assuming these actions are intuitive. However, for someone not familiar with modern smartphones, these actions are not at all obvious. The tech-savvy individual’s curse of knowledge can make it challenging to teach the relative effectively, potentially overlooking the need to explain these basic interactions.

What is Curse of Knowledge?

The “Curse of Knowledge” happens when someone knows a lot about something and forgets that others don’t know as much. This makes it hard for them to explain things in a simple way. They might think the other person understands more than they actually do, leading to confusing explanations. This problem can pop up anywhere, like in teaching, business talks, writing, or any time someone is trying to share information with someone else.

Elizabeth Newton’s Famous Experiment: Tappers and Listeners

The curse of knowledge was clearly shown in a study by a researcher named Elizabeth Newton in 1990. She did an experiment with two groups of people: one group were “tappers,” and the other group were “listeners.” The tappers picked a well-known song and tapped out the rhythm on a table. The listeners had to guess the song just from the tapping.

Before starting, the tappers guessed that listeners would recognize the song 50% of the time. But in reality, listeners only guessed right about 2.5% of the time. Why? Because the tappers could “hear” the song in their heads as they tapped. They found it hard to understand that the listeners, who couldn’t hear the melody, were basically hearing random taps.

Why It Matters

The experiment involving tappers and listeners is replicated globally on a daily basis. This dynamic unfolds between various pairs: CEOs and their frontline staff, educators and their students, political leaders and their constituents, marketers and their audience, as well as authors and their readers. Each of these pairs depends on continuous communication, yet they all face significant challenges due to substantial disparities in information, similar to the issues faced by the tappers and listeners.

What can we do about it?

Beating the curse of knowledge means trying to remember what it’s like not to know something. Here are some tips:

1. Keep it simple: Use clear, straightforward language. Don’t assume the person knows any background information.
2. Avoid jargon: Use everyday words instead of technical terms.
3. Use examples: Relate new ideas to something familiar. It can help make the unknown more understandable.
4. Explain step by step: Break down information into small, easy-to-digest parts.
5. Get feedback: Ask your audience if they understand and adjust based on their responses.

The curse of knowledge is a common problem, but it’s not unbeatable. By being aware of it and adjusting how we communicate, we can make sure our messages are clear and understood. Remember the tappers and listeners: what’s obvious to you might be completely unknown to someone else. With a little effort, we can bridge that gap and make our knowledge a blessing, not a curse.