The Blessing of Simplicity

I recently happened upon a social media tip from an obviously knowledgeable person. Problem was, he had too much knowledge. “Too much knowledge, how could that be bad?,” you ask.

Too much knowledge becomes bad when it becomes a curse that prevents smart people from sharing smart advice that less knowledgeable people can understand. Case in point, this social media tip found online:

"Use the friendship paradox to identify the social brokers at opaque target markets. Identifying people closer to the center of the social graph delivers higher ROI when evangelizing.” [name withheld to protect the guilty]

Obviously, this social media expert has lots of knowledge. He unfortunately suffers from the "Curse of Knowledge."

Chip and Dan Heath wrote about the Curse of Knowledge in MADE TO STICK. Here’s how they explained it,

“Here’s the great cruelty of the Curse of Knowledge: The better we get at generating great ideas—new insights and novel solutions—in our field of expertise, the more unnatural it becomes for us to communicate those ideas clearly. That’s why knowledge is a curse. But notice we said ‘unnatural,’ not ‘impossible.’ Experts just need to devote a little time to applying the basic principles of stickiness.”

The antidote to the “Curse of Knowledge” is the Blessing of Simplicity. Using simple, easy-to-understand words will make you look smarter because you’ve communicated your complex advice in an easy-to-digest way.

Don’t confuse simple words with dumbing something down. It’s actually harder to use simple, jargon-free words than it is to use supposedly smart and knowledgeable words.

For example, here’s another social media tip I found online that probably says the same thing the “friendship paradox” quote was trying to say,

“Remember that this is social. Don’t approach it as an opportunity to sell, sell, sell. It’s about building relationships and trust – things that take time and come from reliable and repeatable actions. Treat social media just as you would a social function in real life.” [name withheld to not make the guilty guy look guiltier]

Ahh ... much easier to understand.

Comments

[Katie Rottner]

Amen! Makes me think of this quote, which I heard yesterday (and have issues with):

I don’t care about being more accessible. I assess whether my poems have what is necessary, what is proper. – Czeslaw Milosz

Granted, art and marketing are two separate beasts, but good writing is good writing. And simple is not dumb. Simple is accessible. So simple is smart.

[Jes_Barnes]

"Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach." - Aristotle.

Knowledge is good, knowledge is great! But only with proper understanding can one convey that knowledge. It's the difference between knowing the answer to the math problem and knowing the steps to find the answer to the math problem.

It also just may be an issue of audience awareness. My friend and I have very similar knowledge sets but occasionally during conversation we might venture out and start talking about things that the other doesn't understand, completely unaware that we are using words they have no context for.

Anyways, that's my two cents.

[Tracy]

As they say in Marketing 101 Keep it Simple Stupid.

Very valid point no matter what format or outlet.

[Jørgen Sundgot]

Those are good examples of how humans generate complexity yet are attracted by simplicity. It also reminds me of the four stages of competence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence), and reminded me that the curse of knowledge often rears its ugly head in the third stage.

When at first people are placed in a position with little or no knowledge, they are unconsciously incompetent - often resulting in hilarious mistakes. In Internet culture, they're often reffered to as newbies, or n00bs if you're sufficiently adolescent. In other words, beginners.

Then, they become consciously incompetent, at which point many retreat inwardly whereas the ones who will go on to making a difference use the opportunity to put a stake in the ground and declare their ambitions. The latter are often those we recognize as up-and-coming.

From here, they progress towards the state of consciously competent, where the curse of knowledge strikes; people fall in love with their own competence, which hinders many from progressing further. You'll run into more than a few of these in your lifetime, and often come to know them as besserwissers or know-it-alls.

Lastly, we arrive at the stage of inconscious competence, where @Jes' quote about Aristotle comes into play: there's a difference between knowing and understanding, as much as there is a difference between mediocrity and greatness.

If you want simplicity, aim for the latter stage - and if that enables you to teach others, then that's all for the better.

/Jørgen

[Lawyer Social Marketing]

Being simple means everything. You don't have to elaborate things as if no one understands you. Just being simple is beneficial.

[Robbin Phillips]

Amen. Why use a 10 dollar word when I 5 cent word will do! I love this concrete example. It's not brains surgery.

[Robbin Phillips]

However, try not to make stupid typos :-)

Good grief. I meant brain surgery!