The Curse of Knowledge
People often say, “knowledge is power.” But what happens when we all have different levels of knowledge?
My uncle Murthy turned 94 recently. He is always dressed up neat with formal wear and a golf hat. He remains dapper commanding attention wherever he goes. His kind face and warm personality radiate positive energy. He always looks vibrant and youthful. He is a well-travelled man who has met many distinguished people in his career — Dr Sarabhai, Dr Abdul Kalaam, and the royal family of Nepal, to name a few. He is the first civil engineer in our family. He has worked in the public sector, defence and private corporations, and he is a role model for many of us. His sparkling eyes do not tell me whether he was content with the choices he made in his life.
He is a maverick and loves to talk. He can speak on any subject around the globe with his endless wisdom- politics, entertainment, building construction, Shakespeare or cricket. He has an opinion on every topic, prides himself on his infinite wisdom, and continues exploring new things. He could easily narrate the story of God’s little Acre or three steps from the living room to the bedroom.
My uncle assumes everyone understands the concrete data stored in his head as he sees the world through his eyes without realising that the target customer does not understand. He has the challenge of assessing the listener’s knowledge level while talking. He does not care whether the listener is a senior executive in a corporation or Kasi, my cousin from the village who has zero ability to grasp.
He loses sense of time and keeps the listener engrossed with his oratorical skills. He is very language agnostic and can speak several languages fluently, including Sanskrit. Sometimes he does not know what language the listener can understand. The youngsters in my family look at him with awe when he starts speaking. He could have been a great religious guru or a political leader. His free advice gushes out like a fresh stream of water from the mountains. He has a cognitive bias where he incorrectly assumes that every listener in front of him knows and is interested in a given topic. He forgets that other people don’t know what he knows. Sometimes, he lives in a high illumination that no one can reach, similar to Muhammad Ali. His strong preferences show up during the conversations when he shares stories from his life. While he is familiar with a lot of jargon, the user experience is very different.
I learnt several life lessons, including table manners and simultaneous usage of spoon and fork from him while eating. I always had to budget a few hours to listen to him. I had the challenge of listening to him and dozed off several times as I struggled to understand his state of mind. He is like a power source with abundant energy; all one needs to do is turn it on.
A man of excellent work ethic, he is known to forget personal stuff thinking about his work. In his hay days, it seems he returned home alone in the middle of a movie and left behind his wife in the theatre. He missed flights in the departure lounge through the PA system and called out his name several times. He lost many mobile phones in his career but did not forget to sport his Omega watch in his left hand.
He reminds him of a quote from Cheryl Cole — “Too much of anything can make you sick. Even the good can be a curse! Knowing too much can get you hurt.”
I wish him many more years of life!
