The Curse of Knowledge

We tend to forget that the technical knowledge we have acquired over years may not be very widely known.

Richard H. Thaler is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics and Behavioral Science, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago. Chicago U is not normally seen as a very "touchy feely" school.

"Once we know something, we can't imagine ever thinking otherwise. This makes it hard for us to realize that what we know may be less than obvious to others who are less informed. The curse of knowledge will lead me to think that others will have read the same articles I have, and have learned the same lessons from them (lessons I take for granted), when in fact others have been busy reading entirely different material, and have never even heard of the finding that have so influenced my thinking."

From Homo Economicus to Homo Sapiens, Winter 2000

A rush to judge others maybe partially caused by our own human cognitive biases.