Rationality quotes: August 2010

Cyan

This is our monthly thread for collecting these little gems and pearls of wisdom, rationality-related quotes you've seen recently, or had stored in your quotesfile for ages, and which might be handy to link to in one of our discussions.

Please post all quotes separately, so that they can be voted up/down separately. (If they are strongly related, reply to your own comments. If strongly ordered, then go ahead and post them together.)
Do not quote yourself.
Do not quote comments/posts on LW/OB.
No more than 5 quotes per person per monthly thread, please.

Please post all quotes separately, so that they can be voted up/down separately. (If they are strongly related, reply to your own comments. If strongly ordered, then go ahead and post them together.)
Do not quote yourself.
Do not quote comments/posts on LW/OB.
No more than 5 quotes per person per monthly thread, please.

The original quote said, "the most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man". This contradicts in my opinion what Michael Anissimov (Media Director, SIAI) thinks to be the case, namely that "a person with an IQ of 100 cannot understand certain concepts that people with an IQ of 140 can".

Michael Anissimov is responsible for compiling, distributing, and promoting SIAI media materials.

I was just being pedantic here but thought that highlighting this point would be good as other people, like Greg Egan, seem to disagree. This is an important question regarding the dangers posed by AI.