Analysing your IQ
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AKA: "Expert Blindness"
Once you know something, you cannot imagine what it is like not to know it, making it hard to teach or communicate.
Curse of Knowledge is one of the most common cognitive errors—and one of the hardest to spot in yourself. This page explains what it is, why your brain does it, and how to mitigate it.
You give instructions that make perfect sense to you but confuse beginners. You skip "obvious" steps they need.
This bias is particularly dangerous because it operates below conscious awareness. By the time you notice it, the damage is often done.
This error is driven by Knowledge becomes automatic and invisible; you lose access to your former ignorance..
Evolution optimized for speed and safety, not truth. Curse of Knowledge is a byproduct of heuristics that once had adaptive value.
In investing: Curse of Knowledge leads to holding losing positions too long or selling winners too early.
In relationships: This bias causes people to interpret ambiguous signals in ways that confirm existing beliefs about partners.
In work: Curse of Knowledge makes it harder to update strategies when market conditions change.
In health: People ignore symptoms that contradict their self-image as "healthy" or "young."
The scientific literature on Curse of Knowledge spans behavioral economics, cognitive psychology, and decision science. The finding is robust across cultures and contexts.
Test explanations with actual novices. Use analogies to bridge knowledge gaps. Assume less shared context.
Seek disconfirming evidence: Actively look for data that challenges your current belief.
Use decision journals: Write down predictions before outcomes are known, then review accuracy.
Consult diverse perspectives: People with different backgrounds spot different biases.
Implement decision rules: Pre-commit to criteria before emotionally charged situations arise.
Time-box decisions: Revisit important conclusions after a cooling-off period.
Some brains are more susceptible to this than others. Test your Intelligence to find out.
Once you know something, you cannot imagine what it is like not to know it, making it hard to teach or communicate.
The alternate name "Expert Blindness" captures the intuitive essence of the bias. Curse of Knowledge is the formal psychological term, while "Expert Blindness" describes what it feels like in practice.
Test explanations with actual novices. Use analogies to bridge knowledge gaps. Assume less shared context.
The underlying mechanism is knowledge becomes automatic and invisible; you lose access to your former ignorance.. Human brains evolved heuristics for speed and survival, not accuracy in modern contexts.
Yes. Intelligence doesn't provide immunity—sometimes it makes the bias worse because smart people are better at rationalizing. Awareness and structured decision processes are more protective than raw IQ.
You give instructions that make perfect sense to you but confuse beginners. You skip "obvious" steps they need.