Quotes About Intelligence

The world out there is inherently hard to understand and human brains are not wired to understand it well.

Gen. Keith Alexander, once the nation's top cyberwarrior, called it "the greatest transfer of wealth in history.

Put most simply, intelligence is information that gives policymakers an advantage over their adversaries.

The sheer volume of online data today is so staggering, it's hard to comprehend: in 2019, Internet users posted 500 million tweets, sent 294 billion emails, and posted 350 million photos on Facebook every day.29 Some estimate that the amount of information on earth is doubling every two years.30 This kind of publicly available information is called open-source intelligence and it is becoming increasingly valuable.

In addition, as discussed in chapter 4, working in an intelligence agency is not a job. It's a mission.

Cofer Black, who directed the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, once told a colleague that he wanted Osama bin Laden's head shipped back in a box of dry ice.26 Black also assured President George W. Bush after 9/11, "When we're through with them, they will have flies walking across their eyeballs."27 Among Bush's closest advisors, Black came to be known as the "flies on the eyeballs guy."28

Perhaps the most serious objection is what Tetlock calls the "wrong-side-of-maybe fallacy," the risk of being charged with "failure" when an event doesn't happen even when the intelligence estimate claimed there was only a 70 percent chance that it would. When it comes to likelihood, we tend to conflate maybe with sure thing.87

Many countries' intelligence services spy on their own citizens. In 2018, China spent more on internal security than external defense.

Securing advantage in this new world means that intelligence agencies must find new ways to work with private sector companies to combat online threats and harness commercial technological advances. They must engage the universe of open-source data to capture the power of its insights. And they must serve a broader array of intelligence customers outside of government to defend the nation.

There is no farm-state equivalent for intelligence, no geographic center of industry or interests that encourages legislators to focus on intelligence oversight to win voter support. As Michael Hayden told me, "No member ever gets a bridge built or a road paved by serving on the intelligence committee. It's an act of patriotism.

Congress has many more powdered milk experts than intelligence experts. Of the 535 members serving in the 116th Congress, only eighteen ever worked in an intelligence agency, but dozens of representatives came from dairy districts in New York, Wisconsin, Vermont, Texas, and elsewhere. That's better than it used to be. In 2009, only two members of Congress had prior intelligence careers.114 The same year, the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus was founded with more than fifty members.115

Fewer longtermers means more rookies. In the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), one of the highest turnover periods, 11 of 19 House Intelligence Committee members and 7 of 17 Senate Intelligence Committee members were serving for the first time.

Together, these four nations are behind 77 percent of all suspected state-sponsored cyberattacks since 2005.

But I know who you should be with. You should be with a guy who doesn't mind that you're smarter than he is, who doesn't mind that most of the time, you'll be the main event. You need to be with a guy who supports how hard you work and who'll bring you a cup of coffee late at night.

Your father says you're the smart one." "Not the pretty one," I said. I was mortified. "Oh, you can fake pretty," she said.

You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions. —Naguib Mahfouz

She's not a straight-A student, but she's also not stupid. She just thinks she is, which sucks in ways that make me want to do horrible, vile things to whoever made her feel that way.

They say the smart dog obeys but the smarter dog knows when to disobey.

I'm not an elitist. I just know how to read.

I wish I could say that over the years I've gained some insight into the intelligence of my worms, but the most I've seen them do is act out of instinct or hunger, moving up to higher ground in the bin if water pools in the bottom, or gravitating towards food they like and away from food they don't. If they have an intellect, I don't suppose I've provided much to stimulate it.

I was intelligent enough to make up my own mind. I not only had freedom of choice, I had freedom of expression.

Mr. Friedman will convince you about anything he want, even if that's ridiculous. he was a really smart economist

Querido, sabido es que la envidia y la maledicencia humana no tienen fin. Pues si bien la inteligencia tiene un limite, la tontería y la malicia no tienen fondo visible o alcanzable

Unhappiness does make people look stupid