The Curse of Knowledge

There was a study in the 1990s by Elizabeth Newton about this “curse.” The findings can be interpreted about confidence, or over confidence, or unreasonable expectations. I’ve shared this study in my keynotes, retreats, or examples when coaching. It is very applicable in our daily lives. Also, in pretty much every sitcom.

Participants were divided into two groups; one was “tappers” and one was “listeners.” The “tappers” using only their knuckles on a table were to “tap” out a well known tune. The “listeners” were to guess the name of that tune. Think of My Country ‘Tis of Thee, a classic from Bloomington Public Schools, and what that might sound like if tapped out on a typical elementary school desk. The next step is for the “tappers” to predict what percentage of the “listeners” are able to correctly name that tune.

In this study, the “tappers” predicted that the “listeners” would correctly identify the name of the song 50% of the time. In the experiments, the true predictive percentage was 3. Three percent of the time the “listeners” got it right. How could the “tappers” be so wrong? How is it possible that the “listeners” couldn’t figure out what the song was? What is the disconnect between the two?

The answer is that we expect people to see (and hear) things as we do. If we’re tapping out a song, we hear the melody, the vocals, everything. But in reality, the listener hears none of that. They only hear knuckles rapping on a table and try to put meaning into those sounds. The two groups are operating on completely different expectations and perspectives. And that is part of the problem in our country right now—unmet expectations and wildly different views of what we see. It’s the Curse of Knowledge.

Some groups believe they have the true “knowledge” and everyone else is blind, stupid, or worse. Often, I expect my audience to have the same background information, the same understanding, the same perspectives that I am sharing. The key word back there is “same” and when that happens I am a victim of the curse of knowledge because I expect everyone to hear the same “tapping” that I hear. We cannot assume everyone has the same beliefs/values/ ideas as we have.

In order for us to thrive in the Age of the Heart, we have to be aware of when we are the tappers and the listeners.