Ever notice how there are sayings like "Great minds think alike"?

Now...I'm not a giant monkey of doom or anything.. nope..
but I'm anticipating that it was originally created by people who are NOT of great minds.

What do I mean? I mean that someone opted to start sputtering out that saying, and it continued on since you were complimenting yourself and the other person.
This in turn created a snowball effect and caused everyone to say it all the time.

Now why do I think they were of a simple mind? Because of the fact that people will inherently wish to increase their ego. Those who don't are usually the odd ones of society, or those who tend to be more...unstable...
So "great minds think alike" would be a big boost to your ego since you'd be saying you have a great mind.

or one person does something great, realizing that another person was going to do the same great thing...so they get together and make it a greater thing?

It isn't usually said very seriously though. It probably wasn't said by a great mind, because for a great mind to say it is arrogant, but for someone who isn't a great mind to say it is amusing.

such as when two unrelated scientists come up with the same discovery around the same time.

ignoring who came up with the phrase itself, does it not still hold true?

because great minds would think alike, if not about the exact same subject matter simply because they are both great.

ergo, simple minds would also think alike as both minds are at the same level on the evolutionary scale.

as a phrase it is trite but as a concept it merits thought and discussion.

You don't take competing philosophies into account. Adam Smith and Marx. Both great minds who did not think alike.

Maybe we have to define "great" to discuss this.

That may be true but it's not written anywhere that every great mind has to think alike.

It would depend on the person's beliefs - cultural, political, spiritual, personal - and the time and place they inhabit in the world.

Otherwise there would only be one train of thought for 'great' people, one for the not-so-great and so on, until you get to those without any thought at all.

'Great', in this instance I would assume, would be as per an IQ scale, over say 140, you reckon? That's my interpretation. And as I have no confidence in the infallibility of such tests, the phrase 'great minds think alike' becomes a double edged compliment with no substance.

Now, 'how great minds think' is another thing.

I'd say imagination and originality is more important than IQ.

Don't get me started....I'll just drone on. Imagination and originality should be considered part of an IQ, definitely.