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The curse of knowledge is how, once you know something, you can't imagine not knowing it — so you explain as if your audience already shares your knowledge. Examples:
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5 examples of the curse of knowledge
The expert who loses you A specialist buries you in jargon, forgetting you don't share the basics.
Tapping a song Tappers are sure listeners will recognise the tune; they almost never do — the melody is only in the tapper's head.
Bad instructions The writer skips the 'obvious' step that beginners actually get stuck on.
Teaching your own skill Driving, reading, your job — once fluent, you can't recall how hard it was to learn.
Onboarding a newcomer You assume context they don't have, and they're quietly lost without saying so.
How to spot it in yourself
Before publishing an explanation, test it on someone who doesn't know the topic and watch exactly where they get lost.
Replace abstractions with concrete examples — they survive the knowledge gap; jargon doesn't.
When you think 'this part is obvious, I'll skip it,' that's the curse talking — spell it out.
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