(no subject)

[gwillen]

Is there a name for the fallacy of assuming, when one is in the dark, that everyone else actually knows what's going on? I don't mean this in a conspiracy sort of way; just a sort of implicit assumption that, when in doubt, other people have more complete knowledge than oneself.

As an example of this, consider real-time strategy games, i.e. Starcraft. I always inordinately fear what's going on in the part of the map that I can't see; obviously my opponent is building up a massive army and preparing to destroy me with it. (Note that this is typically not true.) But I fail to properly take account, in my own strategy, of the fact that my opponent cannot, in fact, see what I'm up to either, and may well fear that unknown; and that I should be using this to my advantage.

Does everyone do this? Is there a name for it?

Comments

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

When I'm the last person joining a group, I often make the assumption that everybody else knows each other... which is often falsified.

Over time, I've adjusted my expectations to be closer to the true frequencies.

[gwillen.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yes, I would call this an excellent, nay, _canonical_ instance of exactly the problem I am thinking of. Thanks for the example. I almost always suffer from the same thing. Anyone who is in the group when I join has obviously been there forever, including people who have, if asked, actually been there like two days longer than me. (I think everyone does this.)

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

yeah, I think it's a very common phenomenon, and I wonder if it's related to in-group/out-group psychology.