The Curse of Knowledge

Several years ago, I received a call from someone that I knew quite well and had known for as long as I could remember. It was about 8pm after a long work day and I had just settled down into decompression mode. When I answered, he asked if I could offer some help on a computer issue he was having. Being the nice guy that I am, I said sure and he proceeded to explain what sounded like the typical blue screen of death on a windows based PC.

 I then walked him through my initial routine anytime I have a computer issue. This consisted of the hard boot via holding down the power button until the PC powers back up. We tried this several times but to no avail.

 I then decided I would have him try booting in Safe Mode. I clearly guided him to go through the hard boot process again but this time, when the PC started to boot up, I instructed him to continue hitting F8 until the Safe Mode screen came up. I waited patiently on the phone as he followed my instruction and I anticipated the PC would boot into Safe Mode and I could then provide additional information on correcting the issue. Unfortunately, the blue screen of death would not go away. I had him walk through this process several times yielding the same result. 

At this point, he told me that he does not think F8 works for Safe Mode, so I went and grabbed my laptop and walked through the same process I had guided him through. Sure enough, my PC came right up in Safe Mode the first time. I told him that F8 works fine and with us both being somewhat stubborn in nature, we decided to walk through the process some more. 

Before starting back at it, we reviewed the process again with me explaining that you start hitting F8 once the computer starts to boot up and just keep hitting until Safe Mode appears. We had been at it for over 30 minutes and I was getting frustrated and I know he was getting frustrated as I could hear over the phone what sounded like the sound of muffled rapid machine gun fire as he banged away at the keyboard. 

Finally, when I was ready to give up and I am sure that he was ready as well, he asked me one more question.  He asked, "When I am hitting F8, do I hit the F key and then the 8 key or do I hit them at the same time?"

If you do not know much about computers, this may not make sense to you. For those familiar with the basics, you can imagine that I was at a loss for words. So during this nearly hour long process, instead of hitting the single F8 function key, he had been hitting the F key and the 8 key. Now once I explained that there was an F8 function key at the top of the keyboard, all was well and we ultimately fixed the issue.  By the way, I do not like to drop names, but I will say his initials were DAD.

 So what does this have to do with communication? In my mind, I provided perfectly clear instructions on how to get the PC into Safe Mode. You simply hit F8 during the boot up. I failed to consider that my knowledge was different from the knowledge of my audience. 

 Like me in this instance, it can be easy to suffer from the curse of knowledge. So what is the curse of knowledge? It is a cognitive bias that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to remember what it was like to not know something that you now know. In practical terms, the effect of this curse can cause us to assume our audience has the same knowledge and perspective that we have. Furthermore, even when we know our audience does not have the same knowledge, it can be difficult to communicate in terms that our audience can relate to.

 Here are a few quick tips to help avoid the curse of knowledge.

 1.      Recognize that the curse of knowledge exist.

If we are not aware or do not make a conscious effort to avoid the curse of knowledge, it is likely that no matter how confident we feel our message was delivered, our audience will have a different view and our message may miss the mark. Be open to learn new communication techniques to increase your communication effectiveness. When possible, ask for feedback to see if your method and message are resonating with your listener. 

2.      Know your audience.

In order to communicate effectively, you must know your audience. Knowing your audience helps you avoid assumptions and allows you to better understand their perspective and level of knowledge. Avoid unfamiliar jargon and use concise concrete language that resonates with your audience. 

3.      Tell Stories.

Tell stories and use examples to provide context and texture to your message. Stories and examples that the audience can relate to provide credibility and helps your message resonate. Telling stories promotes better engagement with the audience and takes advantage of our brains natural tendency to remember narratives.

So next time you are preparing for an upcoming presentation or a crucial conversation with someone, take time to consider the curse of knowledge and take the necessary steps to avoid the curse.