OT: G.O.A.T Historical Figures
Hi everyone. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend.
I thought I would bring back the GOAT series part 3. Part 1 was movies, part 2 was Actors.
Here we go.... the criteria is as follows; Cannot be a religious figure, or a president. I know a lot of those would fit, but sadly I don’t think a lot of people know how to handle it. If you do name a political figure (I didn’t eliminate them because we are already limiting ourselves here) please just leave a name and don’t argue with anyone or be rude. Also, it must be someone who you feel made a major contribution or impact to society or a played an important role in something. Lastly, it must be someone who has a Wikipedia page.... this way we don’t say a family member that nobody has heard of and they must be a real person. Ok... so let’s go top 3 only.
In order.
1. MLK Jr.
2. Albert Einstein
3. Ben Franklin
Am I out of line with these? This was hard to narrow down to 3.
Duh...Flynt was much sleezier than the other two.
1. Aliens
2. Socrates
3. Tesla
Hello, fellow Redditor!
1. Genghis Khan - No historical figure comes close to his overall impact
2. Albert Einstein - Ushered in the nuclear age and his work still holds up
3. George Washington - Held this fragile country together against tremendous odds. We would have won independence eventually but it would have greatly altered the trajectory of this country
Honestly in 50 years Elon Musk might be on this list. Obviously it depends which of his current "in development" projects succeed.
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People like Robert Boyle, John Dalton, etc. that started using empirical evidence to support their claims were revolutionary and had huge impact. Thomas Midgely would be the scientist with one of the biggest negative impacts and Fritz Haber would be the most controversial with huge positive and negative impacts on the world.
Ben Franklin has to be near the top of any and all lists. The other two were great but nowhere near the impacts on the world as Ben. J.J. Thomson has to be there too (discovered the electron).
I’d probably also put Aristotle on that list.
1. Dylon
2. Dylon
3. Dylon
4. Dylon
5. Dylon
He spits hot fire!!!
Americans:
1. Thomas Edison
2. Andrew Carnegie
3. Henry Ford
Oops, Carnegie was born in Great Britain
Ben Franklin - brilliant mind on so many subjects, including business, science, politics, and philosophy.
Others: Einstein, Aristotle, Socrates, John Locke, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Ayn Rand, Gen. George S Patton, Gen. Robert E Lee, Sun Tzu, John Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Frederich Neitzsche, Tony Robbins
I would definitely add Ulysses Grant to that list. He was a world-class war general and strategist for his era when he wasn't completely shit faced. Didn't make a terribly great president though.
Magellan
Hannibal
Herbie Hancock
Hannibal crossed my mind. However, as great as he was, and as impossible as his situation was, he still ultimately lost.
I had the same thought regarding Herbie.
Fritz Haber
Developed Haber process to get nitrogen from the atmosphere for use in fertilizers, allowing for a much larger human population to be sustained.
also a huge proponent of the development and use of chemical weapons in WWI.
Both of these things were monumental for humanity, one good, one quite bad.
Johanes Gutenberg - The ability to mass produce information transformed the world forever.
Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen - Discovered Xrays, and that they could be photographed penetrating into human flesh. A medical achievement that has saved probably a couple billion lives since 1897 when they started using it to remove bullets from wounded soldiers in the Balkan War.
Al Gore - Not for his political career. Or warning us all of our impending global doom. He gets it for "inventing the internet". Without him, we would be neither discussing his contributions, or holding the entire history of porn in the palm of your hand just a few clicks away.
Honorable mention: Batman - He saved Gotham from the Clown Prince of Crime.
Seems self serving for user "I'm Batman" to mention Batman as honorable mention.
Rothschilds for sure. Control all countries, politicians, money, and media. That is an accomplishment.
1. Aristotle
2. Descartes
3. Kahneman
Ranking historical figures is a futile exercise to begin with, before randomly chopping off large pieces of the pantheon by randomly eliminating religious figures and certain (are we talking about kings, emperors, and prime ministers too, or just US presidents because the US hasn't had any historical impact?) heads of state.
In any case, Ben Franklin was a great man, but one of the greatest? I don't think it diminishes someone like him to suggest that such an assertion is a vast overstatement.
Basically any list like this is going to fall victim to personal biases and intellectual vanity. The OP appears to have pop history and recency biases. Some relate to preferences in areas like science. It's whatever one sees as important. Many want to prove their depth by picking from a wide variety of disciplines, or show off their learning by picking people who aren't as widely known. (Guilty! In that spirit I submit John Wycliffe).
But it's impossible to evaluate the relative impacts of, say, Genghis Khan against the impact of Lenin or Julius Caesar. It's hard enough comparing like-to-like between, say, Newton and Einstein.
So, let's throw out three names that can't possibly be evaluated as greater than others (since my real top guys all relate to my faith, let's pick some that aren't connected).
- Julius Caesar
- John Wycliffe
- Winston Churchill
But you know whatever.
I agree with your assertion here, that ranking these figures doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I'm partial to war generals myself, and I'm fascinated with the contributions of the wicked and powerful figures that were able to conquer the world with sheer brute force (Genghis Kahn) or were so charismatically brilliant that an entire nation could be swayed to carry out unspeakable violence and appalling crimes against entire races of people (Adolf Hitler).
To me, the aspect of good vs evil, and the caveats that apply to each, capture the human spirit and what we're willing to sacrifice for what we each deem morally superior. With that said, every single historical figure has impacted the world (obviously) and their contributions can't be made out to be inferior.
On the grand scale, however, I think that those who've made strides in the field of science and physics, as well as those who've shaped entire nations, leave the biggest impressions that continue to apply today. All my opinion, of course, which doesn't mean shit.
Frederic Chopin. Not musically trained but haven't heard any classical composer better at hitting the emotional buttons. His music oozes passion, in every which way passion can be oozed.
Smedley Butler. As a former Marine myself, I'm really proud to be associated with Butler. Heroic in combat and at home. Someone who took to heart his oath of office to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
William Francis Pepper. Modern-day hero. Unknown to most Americans but fighting the good fight on our behalf. Friend and supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and his family. Fighter for truth in justice even today: http://www.journalof911studies.com/the-nist-report-on-the-collapse-of-wtc-building-7-challenged-by-2100-architects-and-engineers/
1. Erwin Schrodinger
2. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, inventor of algebra
3. Anthony Carter
Well at least #3 makes sense.
Tom Brady, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton. Sorry, wrong GOAT list.
In that case I'll go with Galileo, Guttenberg and Berners Lee
1. Hitler
2. Trump*
3. Hitler
*I know we said no presidents but I thought I'd include the tiny-handed bastard since he didn't win the popular election, and fit so well with the rest of the list.
/Snowflake out
Leonardo da Vinci
Aristotle
Thomas Edison
Johannes Gutenberg
HONORABLE MENTION (In No Special Order): Confucius, Socrates, Hippocrates of Kos, Plato, Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Hammurabi, Nicolaus Copernicus, Marco Polo, Alexander III of Macedon (Alexander the Great), King Solomon, Genghis Khan, Queen Elizabeth I of England, Benjamin Franklin, Galileo Galilei, Charles Darwin, Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martin Luther King, Jr., Horace Mann, Rosa Parks, Florence Nightingale, Lydia Becker, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, Marie Curie, Nikola Tesla, Henry Ford, William Shakespeare, Samuel F. B. Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, Guglielmo Marconi, Charles Babbage, Steve Jobs, Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, Philo Taylor Farnsworth, Gregor Mendel, Francis Crick and James D. Watson, Louis Pasteur, Geoffrey Chaucer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Mercury Seven Astronauts, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano, Jonas Salk, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Jim Henson, Michael Jackson, Charles Dickens, Aesop, Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Amelia Earhart, Thurgood Marshall, John Marshall, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Earl Warren, Prince Rogers Nelson, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Mel Brooks, Jim Thorpe, Jackie Robinson and many more.
Read your list a little fast and thought it said Richard Marx which is totally conceivable
Tom Brady
whoever this “Q” fucker is
Raymond Reddington
ok I’ll stop
1. Gutenberg, Steve
2. Santa Clause
3. Henry Ford
MLK was a Reverend. Why had t this OP landed in Bolivia? I guess it’s early?
MLK was a Reverend. Why had t this OP landed in Bolivia? I guess it’s early?
MLK was a Reverend. Why had t this OP landed in Bolivia? I guess it’s early?
Archimedes
Hero of Alexandria
George Washington Carver
Alexander the Great
Genghis Khan
- Sparky Anderson
- Chuck Daly
- Scotty Bowman
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for college football season to begin!
If I read too many more of these threads, or if there are too many more bugs inhabiting mgo 3.0, I am fearful of self destructive conduct.
Having read the thread, I am truly at a loss for words...
1. Issac Newton - Founder of modern physics AND calculus. Like, he is the father of just about all modern science.
2. George Washington - Because he gave up his power and let someone else be the leader of the country. How many other leaders at that time or prior voluntarily did that?
3. Neil Armstrong - Central figure in the most significant event in human history. And wasn't the type to brag about it.
Most Overrated: Genghis Khan
1. Caesar
2. Napoleon
3. Lenin
In no particular order:
Genghis Kahn - terrible human being, a pillaging rapist, but the greatest conqueror of all time. Built an empire from the Pacific to Central Europe.
Alexander the Great
Julius Caesar
William of Normandy
Hitler (not a great man per se, but one of the most influential and pervasive world leaders in modern history - the world we live in is very much a product of his regime)
Galileo
Da Vinci
Gutenberg
Socrates
Gavrilo Princip - the man who single-handedly set the World War Era in motion. He was no world leader, instituted no policies, saved no lives. Was more or less an ordinary man save for one moment of his life. His shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand is arguably the most significant singular event of the last several hundred years.
I'll play.
Isaac Newton
Ben Franklin
Guttenburg, can't argue with movable type.
Constantine
Leonardo da Vinci
Thomas Jefferson
I don't know how we go 80+ comments before someone mentions Napoleon Bonaparte. he completely changed the political geography, economic framework, and legal framework of most of Europe which eventually spread through much of the world.
My guess is because he is seen as a villain.
Plato, Nietszche, Edward Gibbon, Herodotus... it's impossible to pick out the greatest, but these are some favorites.
Claude Shannon. Everyone else is a distant second!
And by the way, it’s disappointing as hell that the greatest mind who ever lived, who made everything to do with computers, communication, cell phones.....i.e today! Is not even known by most U of M grads when he is a graduate!
1. Alessandro Volta
2. Andre-Marie Ampere
3. Georg Ohm
I put Volta first because he was the equal of the product of the other two.
That's Electric!