Curse Of Knowledge

Alright, so you’ve got the curse of knowledge* — but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it. You can break free from it by making a few conscious changes in how you share what you know. Here’s how:

1. Recognize your blind spot

The first step is realizing that what’s obvious to you isn’t necessarily obvious to others. Every time you catch yourself thinking, “Everybody knows this”, stop and ask, “Would I have known this when I was just starting out?”

2. Talk to beginners

Explaining things to people who are new to the topic will quickly show you what’s actually difficult to grasp. Pay attention to their questions — this will help you spot the gaps in your explanations.

3. Simplify, then test your explanations

Don’t be afraid to dumb it down. If you can explain a complex idea to a 10-year-old, you truly understand it. Use analogies, real-life examples, and storytelling. A great trick? Ask someone to repeat what you just explained in their own words—you’ll instantly see if it made sense to them.

4. Write it down or record yourself

Writing or making videos forces you to structure your thoughts clearly. Try this: “How would I explain X to someone with zero background in it?” Putting things into words will reveal assumptions you didn’t even realize you were making.

5. Imagine teaching your past self

Think about what would have helped you five or ten years ago. What details did you wish someone had told you back then? This mindset removes the illusion that “everyone already knows this” because, at some point, you didn’t either.

6. Get feedback

Never assume people fully get what you’re saying. Ask them: “What was unclear?” or “Which part was confusing?” Their answers will help you refine how you explain things.

7. Remember: your knowledge is valuable to someone

It might feel like everything you know has already been explained a thousand times, but the world is big, and there are always people hearing it for the first time. And the way you explain it might be exactly what clicks for them.

The key is to just start. Even if it seems like you’re stating the obvious, someone, somewhere, will go: “Oh, now I finally get it!”

*Curse of Knowledge

The Curse of Knowledge is a cognitive bias where someone with deep expertise in a particular field assumes that others understand it at the same level. As a result, they either fail to explain things, provide insufficient detail, or don’t share their knowledge at all—because to them, it seems too obvious to even mention.

In professional settings and education, this often leads to experts struggling to communicate their ideas in a way that beginners can grasp, making the transfer of knowledge more difficult.

Follow me to help lifting the curse,

PixelWraith

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