“If the brain was simple enough to be understood - we would be too simple to understand it!”

“You don't understand anything until you learn it more than one way.”

“A computer is like a violin. You can imagine a novice trying first a phonograph and then a violin. The latter, he says, sounds terrible. That is the argument we have heard from our humanists and most of our computer scientists. Computer programs are good, they say, for particular purposes, but they aren’t flexible. Neither is a violin, or a typewriter, until you learn how to use it.”

“If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be so simple that we couldn't.”

“If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't.”

“Dear Hilde, if the human brain was simple enough for us to understand, we would still be so stupid that we couldn't understand it. Love, Dad.”

“In general, we’re least aware of what our minds do best.”