What it is
Charlie Munger told a story, probably apocryphal, about Max Planck touring Germany giving the same lecture. His chauffeur memorized it and offered to give it once. He did fine, until someone asked a hard question. “I’m surprised you’d ask something so simple,” the chauffeur said. “My chauffeur will answer it.”
Planck knowledge belongs to people who paid their dues and really understand. Chauffeur knowledge is the ability to repeat information without that understanding. It can sound exactly the same, until the follow-up question.
How it shows up for me
With AI, chauffeur knowledge is cheaper than ever, for me too. My test is whether I can answer the second question without looking anything up. If I can’t, I don’t really know it yet.