Let’s talk about what is “Curse of knowledge” and why people give it so much importance. “Curse of Knowledge” is a psychological phenomenon, and we all are its victim. In “Curse of Knowledge,” victim finds it difficult to explain things to other people who are unable to perceive things as he does. For example, if you ask for a Computer Scientist something about computing theories, he might answer you in simple words, but you are unable to understand him because he doesn’t know about your level of understanding in the particular field. You are a lawyer, and he is expecting you to be well aware of computing. Here is where the curse of knowledge makes an entry. Often writers, marketers, scientists, lawyers, engineers, driver, and teachers are a victim of “Curse of Knowledge.” All the skilled experts in their field.
“Curse of Knowledge” is sometimes not harmful in oral communication, but in writing, it is the most dangerous habit. People might stop reading you once they realize that you are unable to elaborate it on their level. Curse of knowledge can be comprehended in your posts, comments, web pages, emails, and blogs and even in your books. To avoid such situations, you must get facts about the “Curse of Knowledge,” because the more you know about it, the less you will become a victim of it.
So here we are providing you with some tips to avoid “Curse of Knowledge” in your writing habits.
Understand the level of your readers:
Know your audience and understand their needs. Don’t write without knowing the knowledge level of your audience about a particular topic you are writing about. If your targeted readers are novice and students, feel free to start from basics and also tell the stories related to your article. First, begin from the lowest level and reach the top degree in sequence. If your targeted readers are experts, then you can start from expert level, because they are already aware of the core and if you take the start from basics, they might get bored while reading you.
Avoid jargons and idioms:
Don’t write too many idioms and phrases because it gives an expression that if you don’t know about these things, you don’t have to read it. It happens quite often that novice readers read your articles to earn knowledge on your particular topic and your piece of writing is difficult to comprehend. This may result in them stop reading you, and it may leave an atrocious expression in their mind about the writer.
Aid your write-ups with examples
Do not confuse your readers with only bookish text. Throw some real life examples at them, examples that they can relate themselves with. Help them understand, using real life examples to convey your message so it would be easy to figure out for readers.
Share your experiences
Share your experiences with a reader, about how your first experience in indulging about a particular thing was and how you overcame the difficulties that came in your way.
Get someone else’s point of view
When you write something, ask anyone, except you, to read your article, to point out mistakes, ambiguities or to suggest changes in the script, etc. Moreover, try to find a person that belongs to your targeted reader’s community to get his/her view of about your article. You can also read it by yourself by thinking yourself as another person altogether.
Use Visuals
Visuals and images in your articles are really helpful and catchy because the majority of people are visual learners. Make PowerPoint presentations, images using cartoon art to tell your reader about your view.
Hope you liked the tips, and we wish you happy writing.
