The Problem is That You Know Too Much
What prevents you from becoming a better writer
Apparently I’m “Plato”, according to one friend and colleague, for offering this aphorism in a meeting this morning. I was speaking to another pastor/author friend, and said,
You are not aware of your own deepest and richest contributions, because you’re too close to it. People don’t see what is obvious to them, but just assume that everyone knows what they know.
Okay that’s a rough paraphrase but I was talking about the tendency I have seen when working with authors to skim over their best material.
Perhaps it may seem counter-intuitive to you, but it’s actually quite difficult to recognize your own areas of greatest expertise.
When you miss the obvious, you are falling victim to what is known as “The Curse of Knowledge,” a form of cognitive bias…
where we incorrectly assume that everyone knows as much as we do on a given topic. When we know something, it can be hard to imagine what it would be like not knowing that piece of information. In turn, this makes it difficult to share our knowledge, because we struggle to understand the other party’s state of mind.1
Here’s the meme version for easy processing:
Because we think everyone else sees what we see we fail to name what its obvious for us.
If you’ve ever sat in a meeting, heard someone say something obvious, and then find yourself shocked and perhaps a little annoyed that others in the room go “aaaah sensei”, then you have seen the Curse of Knowledge in action.
To be a better writer and thought leader, start naming the obvious. (What is obvious to you anyway.)
The best way I know to begin to recognize the obvious is to get in touch with your young self. What motivated you when you were 20? Talk to your younger self, and you will begin to remember the 101 level of life.
The result will be that you become a better writer.
“The Curse of Knowledge,” The Decision Lab, https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/management/curse-of-knowledge.