Lifted in part from nortonblog:

There's a story told by one of the more prominent people associated with the whole Bob Dobbs, Church of the SubGenius deal. We'll call this story a myth, in the academic sense, meaning that it's useful to explain things whether or not the story itself is actually true.

One day the guy is on an elevator, and there is one other guy in there along with him. He recognizes the other guy: he is a poorly regarded science fiction writer prone to self-aggrandizing statements who has managed to kick off something of a, well, let's be charitable and call it a "movement."

<coughcultcough>

So the first guy turns to him and asks "Ron, how did you do it? How do you get everybody to buy into your bs?"

Ron was apparently in a magnanimous mood, because he told him. And what he told him is absolutely, mathematically, provably and incontrovertibly true:

"You know how smart the average person is, right? Well, half of them are dumber than that."