Chauffeur knowledge

„After receiving the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918, Max Planck went on tour across Germany.

Wherever he was invited, he delivered the same lecture on new quantum mechanics. Over time, his chauffeur grew to know it by heart: ‘It has to be boring giving the same speech each time, Professor Planck. How about I do it for you in Munich? You can sit in the front row and wear my chauffeur’s cap. That’d give us both a bit of variety.’

Planck liked the idea, so that evening the driver held a long lecture on quantum mechanics in front of a distinguished audience. Later, a phisics professor stood up with a questions. The driver recoiled: ‘Never would I have thought that someone from such an advanced city as Munich would ask such a simple question! My chauffeur will answer it.’

(…). There are two types of knowledge. First, we have real knowledge.  We see it in people who have commited a large amount of time and effort to understanding a topic. The second type is chauffeur knowledge  –  knowledge from people who have learned toput on a show. Maybe they have a great voice or good hair, but the knowledge they espouse is not their own. They reel off eloquent words as if reading from a script.”

Pro Jesus’ source: Rolf Dobelli, The Art of Thinking Clearly, Sceptre, Great Britain, 2013, p. 51-52