Curse of Knowledge

== Overview ==
"The curse of knowledge" is a certain cognitive bias that does not allow people to be aware of using their own knowledge to project what they know onto others' ideas and writings, and makes it hard for them to create their own ideas. Once a person becomes familiarized and knowledgable about a topic, it is hard for him or her to let go of their biases and knowledge in order to talk about the topic concretely. This page talks about how "the curse of knowledge" compromises with the ability to create good writing and ideas, the need for an understandable universal language, and how it is hard to "unknow". 
== Definition & History ==
The curse of knowledge is considered a cognitive bias, which means that it is only human error to have the knowledge that we obtain and use it to describe, create, and write ideas.[8] Economists created this concept to understand why some people are not shrewd in business deals.[5] The curse of knowledge is not an uncommon occurrence, but happens everyday without realizing it. It is also considered an "egocentric bias", because it makes people relate ideas only in terms that they know, and not take into consideration other people's thoughts.[7] It is used to describe the same idea in many different disciplines such as economics, business, and psychology. It is also used to help better ideas in writing and other creative processes. 
One example of a well-known model of the curse of knowledge is in the business world. When businesses or managers speak in technical jargon, some of the concepts are lost in translation.[3] Another problem is prevalent through creative writing and media. It creates problems when being creative because it prohibits people to see and understand what other people think. When someone wants to explain something in writing, it is hard to explain in simpler, more understandable terms when one is familiar with its technical terms. In other words, explaining a concept or story to remember without being technical is vital for understanding and remembering. 
Authors Dan Heath and Chip Heath of “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” believe that having this “curse” makes it harder for people to make ideas stick in their minds because it is hard express their “sticky principles”.[2] Their principles are used to help people remember certain information, but if the information is in language or terms only the creator knows, the idea will not “stick”.[2] However, what is recommended is to not use “layman’s terms”, or “dumb-downed terms”, but to find a universal language to get concepts across more efficiently.[2] Another way to put it is drafting your ideas and gaining feedback before considering it completed5. The best way is to ask yourself whether others, and even yourself, will understand what you mean now for in the future.[5] Lastly, being "ignorant" in writing and explaining can be better to get points across.[4] These solutions are only suggestions to making the curse of knowledge less prevalent and overbearing in explanations and writing. However, the curse of knowledge will still remain because of our human trait of explaining in terms we already know. 
== Examples Through Images ==
# Big Bird: A well-loved character on Sesame Street, Big Bird, is never seen as anything but in full costume. Most people would not stop to think about the man behind who plays the character on every episode. The curse of knowledge comes into play when we do see who is behind the costume, and then when we cannot erase the image of a man behind the costume. This considered a "curse" because knowing who is behind the costume will never let us forget that Big Bird is not just a bird. This is knowledge gained and, "once you know, you can't unknow".
# Asking Directions: Asking directions can be very confusing when someone does not know their way around. In this image, a police man is explaining how to get from one place to another to someone that does not know where they are. This is the curse of knowledge also because simpler terms would make the directions "stick", or become easier to remember. Because the police man already has the knowledge of the route, he is not taking into consideration that the man is not following in his own mind.
== Resources and Further Readings ==
1) "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath [2]This book is about using the authors' principles of Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, Stories to make ideas and stories "stick" in the minds of the audience. The curse of knowledge is the "villain" of the story, where it compromises with understanding and retaining the information. The authors suggest to find a "universal language" that helps with the stickiness and also help people retain their creativeness in writing and stories.2) "Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike" by Janet Rae-dupree [6]This article encompasses the book "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the tapping-to-a-song experiment, and the curse of knowledge to understand that creative minds do not think alike. It gives a brief overview of the effects and examples around the curse of knowledge and how people can overcome this curse in innovating thinking.3) "The Source of Bad Writing " by Steven Pinker [5]This article explains how "bad writing" can be associated with the curse of knowledge, where writers usually assume that the readers understand everything in the mins of the writers. Writers need to realize that they need to obtain feedback and question their writing to make sure that most people in the target audience will understand what he or she is trying to say.4) "The Curse of Knowledge" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath [3]This article is another one by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, but the curse of knowledge is explained in terms of businesses. Businesses also suffer from technical jargon or managers that explain ideas in complicated manners. They explain that simplifying the language used or having more concrete concepts would be beneficial to all businesses. 5) "The Curse of Knowledge" by Richard Fisher [4]This article explains how the curse of knowledge is prevalent in everyday life and that ignorance is the best way to reverse the curse. Being ignorant about explaining certain concepts or stories are important to have audiences fully understand where someone goes with an idea. 
== Keywords ==
Cognitive Bias [8]
"In Layman's Terms" [1]
Egocentric Bias [6]
== Citations ==
# "Definition: Layman." Macmillan Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. <http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/layman>. 
# Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. New York: Random House, 2007. Print.
# Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. "The Curse of Knowledge." Harvard Business Review. N.p., 01 Dec. 2006. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. <https://hbr.org/2006/12/the-curse-of-knowledge>.
# Fisher, Richard. "The Curse of Knowledge." New Scientist (2011): 39-41. 30 July 2011. Web. <http://sites.williams.edu/nk2/files/2011/08/Curse_of_Knowledge.pdf>.
# Pinker, Steven. "The Source of Bad Writing." WSJ. N.p., 25 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cause-of-bad-writing-1411660188>.
# Rae-dupree, Janet. "Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Dec. 2007. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/business/30know.html>.
# Ross, Michael, and Fiore Sicoly. "Egocentric Biases in Availability and Attribution." (n.d.): 322-36. American Psychology Association, Inc., 1979. Web. <http://psych.colorado.edu/~vanboven/teaching/p7536_heurbias/p7536_readings/rosssicoly1979.pdf>.
# Turner, Mark. "The Curse of Knowledge." Origin of Ideas: Blending, Creativity, and the Human Spark. N.p.: Oxford ; New York : Oxford Un. Pr., 2013, 2013. 47-51. Web. <https://hbr.org/2006/12/the-curse-of-knowledge>.
# Wilke A. and Mata R. (2012) Cognitive Bias. In: V.S. Ramachandran (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, vol.1, pp. 531-535. Academic Press. <http://people.clarkson.edu/~awilke/Research_files/EoHB_Wilke_12.pdf>.
=== Photos: ===
# Big bird: <https://d2q0qd5iz04n9u.cloudfront.net/_ssl/proxy.php/http/litreactor.com/sites/default/files/images/column/Lists/curse-of-knowledge2. jpg>. 
# Directions: <http://blog.terminologiaetc.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-curse-of-knowledge.png>.
Category:Knowledge
Category:Curse
Category:Cognitive Bias
Category:Layman's Terms
Category:Made to Stick
Category:Egocentric