[JDEW]

“You know, the most amazing thing happened to me tonight. I was coming here, on the way to the lecture, and I came in through the parking lot. And you won’t believe what happened. I saw a car with the license plate ARW 357. Can you imagine? Of all the millions of license plates in the state, what was the chance that I would see that particular one tonight? Amazing!”

-Feynman, from Six Easy Pieces

[cortesoft]

Feynman is one of the best ever at explaining complicated concepts in ways almost everyone can understand. That is a very rare skill for the super intelligent to have.

[tehlike]

Agreed on Feynman, but not necessarily on the generalization that it being a rare skill to simplify things. When you understand a thing so well, you can simplify it enough.

[IAmBroom]

I think it also takes a certain humility of character (which can coexist with tremendous self-esteem and even ego; see Feinman, Richard for an example).

[sniggler]

I know plenty of smart people that know a topic well and are still not great at simplifying it in a way that can be understood well by laymen. Separate skill imo

[almostgotcaught]

yea i always remember this when people put on their tinfoil hats about some rare event.