I believe it's all about the comfort level. Lower powered bikes often give you a better chance of learning, and allow you to get away with some newbie mistakes. It is never a good idea to learn to ride on a bike with tons of power, just as you will never learn to drive on a Porsche or Ferrari. We've all been through pretty much the same learning curves, and the matter is not whether if you could start off with a powerful bike or not, because any one could start off with a R1. It is more of lowering the probability of getting yourself injuried, or at worst, killed, on a powerful bike, which gives you a very little window of mistakes, comparing to a lower powered bike. Remember, riding a motorcycle is not just between your brain and your body, it's something to do with your muscle memory as well, and that comes from experience and countless hours of riding/practicing.
To be very honest, if I started to learn how to drive on a powerful vehicle, I would be limit myself to a certain speed limit for a very short period of time. After a while (let say like a month), I wouldn't really limit myself to that speed anymore and I would want to go faster because I would think that I am now capable of a faster speed, which truly I am not. Lower powered bikes don't even give you that option of going faster, so you are forced putting a limit to yourself. There is always a reason why we call certain bikes as "beginner" bikes.
A tool can be deadly, if you don't know how to use it. Start with a smaller tool would help.
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