
Curse of knowledge - olalonde
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge
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dmitriy_ko
I found that this often applies to software developers. As someone who writes
the code and understands the product internally, you lose the ability to
relate to the end-user. You just don't see things the way end-user sees them.
This is the reason having a non-technical co-founder on board is useful --
their mind is uncorrupted by the knowledge of internals.

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marcusf
There's a good quote related to the Curse of Knowledge in a conversation
between Daniel Ellsberg and Henry Kissinger as told by Ellsberg:
[http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/02/daniel-ellsberg-
li...](http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/02/daniel-ellsberg-limitations-
knowledge).

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EwanG
OK, nice link, but was there something in particular you had in mind when you
posted this, or did you just assume we'd figure it out (in which case I
question if you read the entry)...

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gwern
I think it's relevant to a lot of things posted here. For example, any
programming language advocacy article based on non-objective engineering
qualities like 'here's a benchmark'.

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chc
How does that relate to the phenomenon of forgetting that other people don't
know as much as you when you're trying to convey information to them?

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gwern
Well, it's evident to _you_ that having all methods/functions/X be
mockable/pure/Y is the best thing since sliced bread because your bacon has
been saved so many times by testing/referential transparency/Z; but to someone
who has not been saved?

