From the Curiosity Chronicle: Here’s a story about German Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Planck and his chauffeur that I often think about:
After winning his Nobel Prize, Max Planck went on a tour, giving lectures at a variety of universities and institutions around the country.
His chauffeur drove him to all of these lectures, hearing him prepare in the car and deliver the talk over and over again. In fact, the chauffeur had heard the lecture so many times that he had it memorized.
Before one of the final lectures of the tour, he jokingly asked Planck if he could go up on stage and deliver it on Planck’s behalf. Surprisingly, the physicist agreed.
The chauffeur put on a jacket and tie and proceeded to deliver a perfect lecture, word for word, just as Max Planck would have done.
But at the end of the talk, a simple follow-up question was asked by an audience member.
Stumped by the question, the chauffeur quickly replied, “That question is so easy, I’ll let my chauffeur answer it,” and pointed to Planck, who was wearing the chauffeur hat in the back of the crowd.
While the story itself may not be entirely real, the lesson it brings to life is important…
There are two types of knowledge:
- Real Knowledge
- Surface Knowledge
Real Knowledge has depth. It is flexible and dynamic. It can be leveraged in different ways, because the topic is truly understood, not just memorized. It is only acquired through hours and hours of working on a specific craft.
Surface Knowledge is the opposite. It’s the amount of knowledge required to sound smart at a cocktail party or pass an easy exam, but it fails when put under any degree of scrutiny.
There’s a big difference between truly knowing something and just sounding smart talking about it.
A lot of problems in the world are the result of people with Surface Knowledge masquerading as people with Real Knowledge.
The goal: Seek to build Real Knowledge in your own endeavors, and to support those with Real Knowledge in theirs.
More here.
