The Curse of Knowledge

The curse of knowledge is what happens when you know something so well that you forget what it feels like not to know it.

Once an idea lives comfortably in your brain, it starts to feel obvious. Simple. Practically common sense. Unfortunately, this is the exact moment you begin explaining it in a way that makes perfect sense… to you alone.

You skip steps without realizing it. You use shorthand. You reference things you learned years ago and assume everyone else is standing on the same mental ground. They’re not. They’re still trying to find the map.

Imagine a person that has been baking for 30 years telling a beginner to “just add water until it looks right.” The “right” that the baker is referencing came from 30 years of work, but it feels so basic to them they just assume you’ll get it.

The fix isn’t to talk down or oversimplify. It’s to rewind, start at the beginning and go back a few more steps. To remember the questions you once asked.

Knowing a lot is not the problem. Forgetting how you learned it is.