Have you ever read an article or blog post and thought, “What was that?” or “But how do I do it?”  It may not be your fault for the lack of comprehension. Due to the Curse of Knowledge, the author of your article or blog may not have left much to comprehend. I was introduced to the “Curse of Knowledge” through an article by Steven Pinker. Pinker explains the curse as a difficulty in imagining what it is like for someone else not to know something that you know. The term was invented by economists to help explain why people are not as shrewd in bargaining as they could be when they possess information that their opposite number does not. But how does this apply to writing? 

Oftentimes, authors assume that their readers will just be able to understand what they are talking or better yet writing about because they are blinded by their own knowledge. This doesn’t knock or diminish their hard work or knowledge; if anything, it actually allows the author to be able to show how truly experienced they are in the topic or concept they are writing about. Pinker recommends that the cure to this curse is to not assume but to imagine as if the reader is looking over your shoulder at what you are writing. This will allow you to be able to develop a more cohesive and understandable piece of content for your reader. By following the remedy Pinker provides, both the author who gets to show their true expertise in their topic and the reader who walks away with a clear-cut answer to their question walk away feeling satisfied and more knowledgeable than when they first sat down.

Sources:

Pinker, Steven. The Source of Bad Writing, 25 Sept. 2014, http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cause-of-bad-writing-1411660188