A chance encounter with a longtime British professor has attracted millions of views after the educator shared his thoughts on the difference between knowledge and wisdom, as well as the changing nature of education in our modern world.

During an impromptu street interview, the professor reflected on how learning has become increasingly transactional, offering a perspective shaped by his decades of experience in academia. The conversation quickly went viral, racking up over 3.8 million views on Instagram in just a couple of days.

The exchange was captured by Evan Brady, better known online as Evan Bnormal, a British content creator who specializes in interviewing older people about their life experiences.

His videos typically feature spontaneous conversations with strangers, whom he asks what advice they would give themselves if they were in their 20s. The format has produced numerous thoughtful and humorous responses, helping several of Brady's previous interviews attract virality and attention online.

One of Brady's latest videos featured a conversation with Douglas Davies, a longtime professor whom he approached on the street with his usual question.

Rather than offering a simple piece of life advice, Davies used the opportunity to discuss the distinction between acquiring knowledge and developing wisdom, drawing on his extensive teaching career to reflect on the state of modern education.

His criticism of the increasingly transactional relationship between students and educational institutions resonated with many viewers, turning the brief encounter into one of Brady's most widely viewed recent interviews.

@evanbnormal

I had no idea who I had stopped… but it turned out to be one of the most interesting discussions I have had in the last couple months. Today I learnt knowledge and wisdom are two very different things. In summary: Knowledge is the information you can collect from others, wisdom is how you extrapolate and use that knowledge within the confines of the real world. A pleasure to meet the legend, Douglas Davies.

♬ original sound – Evan Bnormal

"I had no idea who I stopped," Brady writes at the beginning of his video, as it shows him walking down the street with a microphone in his hand.

"Excuse me," he says, looking towards another passerby, an older man, "If you were in your 20s, what would you do?" Brady asks.

"Not much different, I think," he replies. "I was a very lucky boy," he adds.

"Lucky boy?" Brady asks.

"Oh, you bet!" the man says. "Because in those days, unlike today, I didn't have to pay a penny to come to university," he explains. "Wow, wasn't that amazing? I wouldn't want to change that. I wish we could go back to that," he expresses.

"I've been a university teacher for 51, 52 years," the man says, "You see, the reason I think it's dreadful that students have to pay is that it turns our relationship into a cause and effect, mercantile thing," he explains, gesturing with his hands.

"A transactional mess?" Brady suggests.

"That's the word for it," the teacher says, pointing at Brady, "and the point about knowledge is that it can be transactional. The point about wisdom is that it is not transactional," he explains.

"What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?" Brady asks.

"Oh, it's enormous," the teacher expresses, "it's knowing stuff to understand yourself in relation to all that stuff," he explains, "So not just that you know all about algebra or astronomy or whatever, but that you know stuff that is changing you as a person in relation to stuff you can do in the world."

"Because, let's be honest," he continues, "a place like this is highly privileged. We're a safe spot in the world, which is perilous just now," he adds.

"And I said this to them this morning," the teacher says, referring to his students, "I said, many of you will go out to be serious leaders in Britain, perhaps in the world. And for that you need wisdom, not just information."

"And it's that accumulation of insight. Wisdom is about little plops of insight as you go through life," he says, "and over time they can accumulate to something like wisdom, which is precious. It's like love," the teacher continues, "love belongs to a different order of things."

"Because there's something particularly human about wisdom, something human about love," Brady says, "it's not objective."

"Absolutely that," the teacher says, "but in our society now, so many things have become transactional that we've rather forgotten what we are like as human beings."

"And it's that kind of quality of understanding of the other which changes the quality of your understanding of yourself. And that's important," the teacher concludes.

"What's your name?" Brady asks.

"Douglas Davies," the teacher replies, shaking Brady's hand.

"I'm Evan," Brady says.

In the comments, users who had been Davies’ students in the past talked about him, sharing fond memories and kind words about their experience in his class.

Other commenters from social media discussed Davies’ words from the wholesome exchange and shared reflections of their own.