“After receiving the Nobel Prize in 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 physics professor stood up with a question. 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.”

This story is borrowed from Rolf Dobelli‘s book “The Art of Thinking Clearly“, and was repeatedly told by the billionaire business partner of Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger (Dobelli also credited Munger for the Planck’s story in his book) in his speeches.

Beware of Chauffeur’s Knowledge

According to Munger, there are two types of knowledge: Those who have the real knowledge (Planck’s knowledge), and those who only have sufficient knowledge to put up a show (the chauffeur’s knowledge).

One big difference between the two?
One will know his own limitations on the subject and admits it openly, the other – will not.

Dobelli continued in his book:

“Be on the lookout for chauffeur knowledge. Do not confuse the company spokesperson, the ringmaster, the newscaster, the schmoozer, the verbiage vendor, or the cliché generator with those who possess true knowledge. How do you recognize the difference? There is a clear indicator: True experts recognize the limits of what they know and what they do not know. If they find themselves outside their circle of competence, they keep quiet or simply say, “I don’t know.” This they utter unapologetically, even with a certain pride. From chauffeurs, we hear every line except this.”

I believe Dobelli has missed one of the most important examples of “chauffeur” in our daily lives – Politicians… Knowing this, we should not just blindly listen to all that they have to say, doing some fact-checking after will be the way to go. Check out this article from CNN fact-checking former US President Donald Trump‘s speech if you don’t get what I mean.

To be like Max Planck (Or at least trying to be)

Is to pursue lifelong learning – the continuous pursuit of knowledge.

To understand something instead of just knowing it.

Be it for professional development or personal ones, it is arguably one of the most important mindsets required to stay relevant in the 21st century.

Gone are the good old days where people can hone only specific skills necessary to sustain their jobs. If you’re born in a family of farmers in the late 19th century or early 20th century, you’ll most likely start your career in farming, continue with the family business and retire as a farm owner when you’re done with it. If you’re born in a family of fishermen, just repeat what I said earlier and replace the word “farming” with “fishing” instead.

With technology’s current pacing, fixing your path and staying in your lane might pose a risk of you being substituted by some form of automation (I’ve talked about this briefly in another post). It’s either we keep up with the pace or be left behind.

Now that we’ve established that continuous learning is essential, and we should keep it as one of our mantras in life. This brings me to raise a question:

“How do we learn how to learn?”

This brought me to…

The Feynman Technique

American theoretical physicist, Richard Feynman, was well known for many accomplishments. Apart from assisting in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II and winning the Nobel Prize in 1965, Feynman was also known to many as “The Great Explainer”.

The Feynman technique is derived from Feynman’s own studying method in his early years at Princeton University. It’s broken down into 4 simple steps as shown below:

Step 1: Identify the subject

Obviously, you first need to know what subject that you want to learn. List down everything you know about it on a piece of paper (or any form of notes). If you are new to the subject, gather information about it from reliable sources, study it, and then list down everything from the top of your head.

Step 2: Teach the subject

From the knowledge accumulated from step 1, practice teaching it to someone else. If there is no one to teach to, practice teaching it to yourself.

Step 3: Identify gaps

When teaching the subject, be aware of areas that you find hard to explain. Identify those gaps, review them, and go back to the source materials to fill those gaps.

Step 4: Organize, simplify, and create analogies

Once you are good enough to explain the subject, try to organize and simplify it in a way that is even easier to explain than before. Piece the information together to create an analogy or story so that even a kid could understand when you teach it. If a kid can grasp the concept, then you have achieved your goal.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.

E.F. Schumacher

Using the Feynman Technique to learn helps you to understand the subject deeply and thoroughly. When you teach others or explain it to a kid, you simplify the concept and reinforce what you already know, strengthening your grasp on the subject.

Happy learning!

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This is post #9.

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