From a Blessing to a Curse

From a Blessing to a Curse

The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that hacks the rational behavior of an individual when they assume others understand what they are saying. In other words, this bias occurs when an individual, communicating a subject matter with others, wrongfully believes that they have the level of knowledge and background to understand. The curse of knowledge manifests everywhere and at all levels; among the least to mention, between parents and their children, teachers and their students, coaches and their athletes, and managers and their subordinates.

Have you ever been in a situation where you find it difficult to believe that others do not understand what you are trying to pass on? If this statement seems to be overly general, it is, in fact, true. Basically, the more we know about a subject, the harder it becomes to comprehend and justify others’ difficulties in understanding it. This is because when we become knowledgeable about something, or experts on it per se, we also display a tendency to assume that others understand it, too.

Out of excitement, experts may not hesitate to flaunt their ideas and points of view. The problem with their approach is that they overdo the process in such a way as if they communicate just to show that they know instead of allowing people to know. For the latter to happen, the audience must receive the information in a way that enables them to understand. Otherwise, the experts become cursed by their knowledge. The “I know, you know” fallacy can quickly transform good knowledge into bad outcomes.

The “I know, you know” fallacy can quickly transform good knowledge into bad outcomes.

How the Curse of Knowledge Affects us?

The effect of the curse of knowledge on human behavior is most often overlooked and de-emphasized. Chances are, every one of us has encountered this bias at some point without even realizing it. As we try to convey our knowledge and reveal our abilities and performances to others, it is perhaps not surprising that we sometimes fail so wholly to judge accurately how good others are.

Let’s dive into some examples.

1. I love football and remember how hard it was for me to develop my technical and tactical skills and become a decent player. I am now a coach with a passion to train youngsters and talented players. Despite this, I admit it didn’t take me long to forget that new players do not have the same knowledge and skills that I have. Simply put, my knowledge of football had cursed me, and until I learned what was going on, things hadn’t been going well for me. As a result of understanding this bias, I have completely changed my approach to training and delivering content on the audience’s wavelength.

2. In more complex scenarios, the curse of knowledge coupled with other social and phycological factors can lead to detrimental outcomes. For example, assume you are an aviation maintenance chief engineer leading a critical maintenance task on an aircraft. You are short of staff, and your company decided to outsource part of the work under your supervision. The third-party technicians are experienced but not so familiar with the specific task they are asked to undertake. Assuming that everyone knows what you know, you went through the briefing session quickly, and the team completed the work over two days. In the aftermath, as the plane took off, things didn’t go smoothly, and an incident occurred shortly afterward. With hindsight, things should not have gone that way, and the cause of the accident is evident and can be blamed on the technicians’ errors. In the end, after a comprehensive investigation, it was determined that human error was the proximal cause and not the root cause, as it was indisputable fact that almost all third-party technicians did not receive sufficient information about the task during briefings. With that said, was it your fault for not properly passing the sensitive instructions or theirs for not digesting the information? The curse of knowledge is the most likely culprit.

Though, one might question why the technicians did not raise their concerns, ask questions, or request more information during the briefing. Unfortunately, there is no straight answer to this. Under such circumstances, many factors might add to the problem and escalate the effect of the curse of knowledge. Least to mention fear or embarrassment to ask, overconfidence, ego, feeling rushed, not wanting to interrupt, lack of encouragement, no room for questions, and tendency to rely on others.

3. In a recent real-life case, I attended a conference call with my site team to discuss the safety performance of one of our subcontractors. During the call, our lead safety engineer addressed the importance of the risk register and how critical it is to conduct a job risk assessment. One thing caught my attention; the silence on the other side. While our safety engineer went on and on with the detailed requirements, the subcontractor’s representative seemed frozen. At this point, I had the courtesy to ask the representative a simple yet fundamental question: “Do you know what a risk register is and how to create one?” To the surprise of everyone, the answer was “no.” I realized at this point that we need coaching as much as the subcontractor. Should the meeting have been concluded without this question, everyone would have assumed that things were in good order. The moral of this story is that we must be responsible for ensuring that what we say is understood.

The curse of knowledge is the single best explanation of why good knowledge can translate into destructive fallouts. It is not only about what we know, but also about what others know and how much we know about what they know.

“It is not only about what we know, but also about what others know and how much we know about what they know.”

How to Defeat it?

The first step required to combat and defeat the curse of knowledge is recognizing its existence and appreciating what a roguish curse it is. The difficulty to comprehend how someone else does not know something that you know leaves you frustrated and rendered not to notice this curse at play. However, despite its severity and consequences, anyone can beat the curse of knowledge by adequate training and essential yet straightforward measures:

• Acknowledge your bias and appreciate its scale.
• Know your audience and ask them about their knowledge. Remember: It is not only about what you know, but also about what others know and how much you know about what they know.
• Take the driver’s seat and don’t make assumptions.
• Remember that you acquired knowledge by learning, and learning is not easy.
• Explain in a simple and clear way.
• Avoid the alien language; stay the course and be concise in your message.
• Encourage questions and clarifications.