There’s a fictional story about Nobel Prize winner Max Planck touring Germany giving the same lecture on quantum mechanics. Over time, his chauffeur memorized it and proposed a switch – he’d give the lecture in Munich while Planck sat in the front row wearing the chauffeur’s hat.
Planck agreed. The chauffeur delivered the lecture flawlessly.
Then a physics professor stood up and asked a difficult question. Without missing a beat, the chauffeur replied: “I’m surprised that in an advanced city like Munich, I get such an elementary question. I’m going to ask my chauffeur to reply.”
This was one of Charlie Munger’s favorite stories – not because of the quick-wittedness of the chauffeur – but because it illustrated two kinds of knowledge.
There are people with Planck knowledge – they’ve done the work, wrestled with the hard questions, and earned the understanding.
And then there are people with Chauffeur knowledge who have learned to talk the talk. They can make a great impression but there’s nothing underneath the surface.
The challenge is to surround ourselves with people who have Planck knowledge – and stay away from those who have chauffeur knowledge.
But as Munger warns – there are huge forces working against you.
A Learning a Day 