# Curse of Knowledge - Wikipedia ![rw-book-cover](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article4.6bc1851654a0.png) ## Metadata - Author: [[wikipedia.org]] - Full Title: Curse of Knowledge - Wikipedia - Category: #articles - Summary: The curse of knowledge is a bias where knowledgeable individuals assume others share their understanding. This bias can hinder effective communication and teaching, as experts may struggle to empathize with those lacking the same knowledge. Recognizing and addressing this bias is crucial in education and decision-making contexts. - URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge ## Highlights - The **curse of knowledge** is a [cognitive bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias) that occurs when an individual, who is communicating with others, assumes that others have information that is only available to themselves, assuming they all share a background and understanding.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge#cite_note-Kennedy1995-1) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hyeemgyw9zas9tjrs5668qp1)) - This curse of knowledge also explains the danger behind thinking about student learning based on what appears best to faculty members, as opposed to what has been verified with students.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge#cite_note-Wieman2007-3) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hyeemq9vfm1z2r1ddbhd8g19)) - Economists Camerer, Loewenstein, and Weber first applied the curse of knowledge phenomenon to economics, in order to explain why and how the assumption that better-informed agents can accurately anticipate the judgments of lesser-informed agents is not inherently true. They also sought to support the finding that sales agents who are better informed about their products may, in fact, be at a disadvantage against other, less-informed agents when selling their products. The reason is said to be that better-informed agents fail to ignore the privileged knowledge that they possess and are thus "cursed" and unable to sell their products at a value that more naïve agents would deem acceptable.[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge#cite_note-Camerer-Loewenstein-Weber-5)[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge#cite_note-Birch-Bernstein-14) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hyeeqp92skxafqe0bdfszp7v)) - It can also show up in computer programming where the programmer fails to produce understandable code, e.g. comment their code, because it seems obvious at the time they write it. But a few months later they themselves may have no idea why the code exists. The design of user interfaces is another example from the software industry, whereby software engineers (who have a deep understanding of the domain the software is written for) create user interfaces that they themselves can understand and use, but end users - who do not possess the same level of knowledge - find the user interfaces difficult to use and navigate. This problem has become so widespread in software design that the mantra "You are not the user[[18]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge#cite_note-18)" ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hyeep154zt1p51c9nfbnqtm0)) - Another example is writing a to-do list and viewing it at a future time but forgetting what you had meant as the knowledge at the time of writing is now lost.[[19]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge#cite_note-Al-Berg-19) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hyeepch3913s4y8c45bhbn2c))