“machines can never make mistakes. ”Errors of conclusion can only arise when some meaning is attached to the output signals from the machine.

— Douglas R Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett, The Mind’s I

If atheism is a religion, then not collecting stamps is a hobby

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, How to Actually Change Your Mind

I can’t find a reason for that happiness, which is proof positive of its authenticity. Any other kind of happiness is a conditioned reflex, like in Pavlov’s dog.

— Georgi Gospodinov and Angela Rodel, The Physics of Sorrow

Executives believe these massive efforts are required to overcome their organization’s unwillingness to change. Instead, they should dig more deeply into how their own decision-making process may be causing the problem.

— Jim Whitehurst and Gary Hamel, The Open Organization

Academia is to knowledge what prostitution is to love; close enough on the surface but, to the nonsucker, not exactly the same thing.

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes