Having a single person to identify with an idea via a quote or famous formula is a very human kind of shorthand we love. People still say "Edison invented the l

Having a single person to identify with an idea via a quote or famous formula is a very human kind of shorthand we love. People still say "Edison invented the light bulb", even though we know that's not strictly true at all. People love revisionism in general. Equally we like it when doubt is cast on revered icons to take them down a peg. Or when grand villains and "found to be not as wicked as we once thought". We love treasured theories being overturned. We live in an age on the last frontier of truth, where any controversial claim that throws mud on a cherished belief is popular, just for it's iconoclasm. Meanwhile I think smart people say "I don't care if it's actually true or not." Did Jesus or Plato or Cicero or Machiavelli actually say that? Who cares? It doesn't matter. If it's a good story that makes a clear point or illustrates an idea, then it's useful. So long as it's not something deeply offensive or unfair to attribute, whether Watson actually said it is irrelevant. It speaks to a more abstract truth about scale and underestimates. It's the kind of fallible thing he would have said... might have said.... maybe should have said! As a famous businessman Watson would no doubt be proud to own that and have it associated with his name, even if slightly erroneously.