There’s a persistent myth in academia (and, let’s be honest, in a lot of industries) that the best people to learn from are the ones who are best at doing the thing.
Students chase professors with the longest publication lists, the fanciest journal placements, and the keynote speaker energy. And then they sit through 80-minute lectures that feel like being read a PDF aloud by someone allergic to eye contact. The problem is that intellectual brilliance and pedagogical ability are not correlated. If anything, they might be slightly negatively correlated, because the more effortlessly someone grasps a concept, the harder it is for them to remember what it felt like not to understand it.
Even when we do find someone who can explain clearly, we often stop there and declare victory. But clarity is just the opening bid. Great teaching is not about information transfer, but about transformation. It’s the ability to make someone want to understand, to reshape their mental models, to get them to ask better questions. It’s not just “Here’s how this works,” it’s “Here’s why this matters and why you can do something important with it.”
A good explainer gives you a map, but a great teacher makes you want to explore. LINK
