The ultimate compound return rate is acutely sensitive to fat tails. - William Poundstone

At a bare minimum, understanding entails being able to detect an internal contradiction: a paradox.

Use "entropy" and you can never lose a debate, von Neumann told Shannon - because no one really knows what "entropy" is.

Are there any mythical beasts which aren't simple pastiches of nature? Centaurs, minotaurs, unicorns, griffons, chimeras, sphinxes, manticores, and the like don't speak well for the human imagination. None is as novel as a kangaroo or starfish.