people who have had the biggest impact ever

Creechuur

Well, I don't know about the world, but these are the folks who have had the greatest impact on me, in no particular order:

1. Evel Kneivel (he was my first hero, when I was like 3 or 4)
2. Mike Patton (Musical Genius)
3. CS Lewis (Narnia)
4. Glenn Danzig (bands come and go, but The Misfits are one of the only bands I've liked almost my entire life)
5. George Lucas (not so much for Star Wars, but for all the cinema technology that he has given us)
6. Michael Moorcock (for introducing me to Chaos and Law)
7. Alex Ross (I can stare at his art for hours)
8. Ozzy Osbourne (Diary of a Madman was my first cassette)
9. Steve Cabalerro (Best all-around skater ever, and he's from San Jose, word)
10. Nolan Bushnell, and all the other video game pioneers.

Of course I've had friends, teachers and family that were huge in my life , but I kept the list to famous-type people.

ragesRemorse

George carlin

ragesRemorse

George Washington
Behtoveen
Shakespear
King James III
socrates
J.F.K
Bruce Lee
Aristotle
Michelangelo
Da vinci
Nelson mandela
Hitler
Martin Luthur
Stan Lee (personal favorite smile

)
Chuck berry
Jimmy Hendrix
Jim Morrison
Oh yeah, and Indiana jones, he just da man

Well that should pretty much do it, save a few gengis Khaun, St. joan of arc, and some severely important inventors and discovers such as Ben franlin,Ahh the dude who said the world wasnt flat and also created greater microscopes, Yeah you know em good ol gally, i just dont remember how to spell his name. Also those cats who discovered Radium, i forget their names aswell, but remmeber the story. The husband and wife.
Not to mention a bobby fischer, Einstien, Hawkings, and maybe a Charlie chaplin or two. then we got our world of today more or less save a few names here and there , and or what not smile

el-pirate

columbus...
and galileo

113

1) Jesus (both positive and negative came out of this)
2) Octavion/Augustus (positive)
3) Christopher Columbus (overall positive)
4) BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, it's disgusting how much of an impact he's had (positive AND negative)
5) Thomas Jefferson (positive)
6) Louis and Clark (positive)
7) Abraham Lincoln (positive)
8) Herbert Hoover (negative)
9) Hitler (negative)
10) FDR (positive)

there's a bunch of figures after this and more i could put in between the people i put on the list...but you asked for 10, you got 10...

Baylin

1) Mrs Baylin - Positive and Negative, She gave me children...

2) George Lucas - Positive, Star Wars!

3) Da Vinci - Positive, So many amazing ideas

4) Edison - Positive, So many amazing realisations

5) Tolkien - Positive, For teaching me how to dream of fanastic worlds

6) Jimi Hendrix - Positive, For the inspiration

7) Hitler - Negative, Tried to force the world to live by his ideals

8) Bush - Negative, Tries to force the world to live by his ideals

9) Blair - Negative, Cos he tries to look hard by following 8's example

10) Me - Positive, Cos everyone should have a Baylin!

ragesRemorse

aww my God dude. You want to call ben franklin's impacts being positive and negative, but write Chris columbus off as an overall positive. Chris Columbus Gets all the credit. This guy was an idiot, and a savage. How the hell can you say that ben franklins impact has been, both positive and negative? I think you throw out words on your opinions to loosely without thinking. Shit, John Hancock had more of a positive impact on the world than Chris Columbus. This man stumbled upon gold that was already taken. Chris columbus defaintly has had a negative impact on the world.

Creechuur

I can't believe someone hasn't listed Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom yet...I mean this is KMC we're talkin about.

finti

one person , ME

ragesRemorse

orlando bloom, johnny depp? what the hell are you talking aobut? Man they are like so last year, untill next year when they will be back again. Damn i guess they just keep on havin impats on us like every other year. Damn, i guess you are right they should be noted as great impactors in human life.

el-pirate

i agree, Johnny depp should deffenetly be here, just like brad pitt (how could he, after troy be forgotten??)
and i agree on the columbus thing, how is that overall positive, just stealing land from indians, because he discovered it! (how can you discover a place, which already has inhabitants)

finti

Hitler had big inpact

ragesRemorse

yes he did...sure enough did. He inspired Arnold. Look at what he has done for us in the world. if hitler never slayed all those jews, brainwashd an entire country,and declared war on the world itself, tricking the japs into thinking they would join the krauts in world domination, then we would never have the Govenator. Damn that was a close one people, thank god for hitler

Mr Zero

I'd like to take anyone who could answer the question "Who has had the biggest impact on the world" with "I dunno - but I do love George Lucas and some bands" outside and hold them underwater till I was certain that the gene pool would remain unpolluted by their stain forever more.

Thats just me tho. Im picky.

Papaumau

WOW...Badkitty...

You certainly went to a lot of trouble to fill that questionnaire !

Well done....And if I was not such an old cynic I would probably have made the exact same choices !

As I AM an old cynic I will say that the people who have made the greatest impact EVER are the faceless and nameless heads of the multinational corporations.

These are the people who make your life easy or difficult or safe or dangerous or cheap or expensive.

We will NEVER know for certain how much these powerful men and women have influenced our lives !

Drifter101

yes i would have to put those explorers in the list if i extended mine to 20, along w/ others that involved music and film

Drifter101

1)Jesus Christ
2)Benjimin Franklin
3)Alexander the Great
4)Julius Caesar
5)Napoleon
6)Hitler (negative but did impact world)
7)Leonardo DeVinci
8)Albert Einstein
9)Wright Brothers
10)..cant think of specific, but person who invented toilet paper, seriously
11)Galileo
12)Osama Bin Ladin (neg.)
13)Abraham Lincoln
14)Confucius
15)King Salmon
16)Attila the Hun
17)Hannibal of Carthage
18)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
19)Beethoven
20)Mark Anthony (not the singer)

Drifter101

new improved list

ragesRemorse

Yeah Atilla was defenantly a good choice

Drifter101

he helped wipe out the biggest empire of the time thats a big impact

bardock

bush has had a negative impact he has made our country more hated then ever.he has lost more jobs than any other pres in 75 years.many americans dont have as much pride in their country and leader at least hitler could do that

ragesRemorse

wow, dude take your under educated, biased bush bashing else where. No American president save three should be considred to have some kind of impact through out history. Washington, lincoln, JFK. get that bush shit out of here man. How about clinton, he did more damamge to this country than Bush could ever do. i'm done though. you have to keep saying bush has a negative effect on the world equal to hitler, you have to keep saying it untill someone acknowledges your cry out for attention. go read a book, and learn some American History before you assume to speak for half of the country. I think Americans have lost Pride inthem selves long before the 90's. PRide is still there, and always will be, it just needs to be inspired or sparked. It's not bushs fault. Its people like you, that like to point the blame,rather than try and think or get active in apositive change.

bardock

how did clinton have a negative effect?

bardock

personally he may of had some problems but professionally he was good

KidRock

I agree with RR..quit the bush bashing...you say bush gave our country a bad name? Wow I like how everyone throughout the world knew about clinton lieing on public tv about him and monica lewinski to.

bardock

leaders in foriegn nations thought it was funny we where spending so much time on clintons scandal.did you know that most presidents have had mistresses.jefferson had kids out of wedlock.marilyn monroe had an affiar with the kennedys

ragesRemorse

Heres the the difference though. all of those presidents did somthing great and spectacular for this country. they left an inspiration for others to follow. Clinton sold away our national parks man. The statue of liberty isnt owned by the United states anymore, bet you diddnt know that shit did you? you can thank Clinton for that. Mr bill would tell you what ever you wanted to hear,for you to be on his side. Clinton had the opertunity to put an end to Osama. He also stood by while over sea ebassy's were attacked. Have you noticed that when Clinton was in office, all the celebrties were for Clinton, did you also notice they were always staying at the white house. Celberties were always being asked to the white house. Now that Bush is in office, the stars dont get recognized or asked to stay in lincolns bedroom.

Drifter101

honestly i think this county started loosing its faith for itself after Watergate and the whole thing w/ nixon, i think after that point really the public isnt as patriotic as it use to be

Drifter101

and i can tell you after this "election" is over, and i just have a feeling bush lost, we get to kerry and after 4 years we're gonna see how much he sucks too, its just a big cycle of hating the president

ragesRemorse

yeah. i agree right on with that. I know Bush is going to lose. Kerry isnt going to do jack, but jack shit. Bush isnt a great choice eigther, but i think if he has another four years, he can set the country in a prosperous path again, and atleast leave the country in good standings for the next leader to take the helm. I think it will be a long time before we see another good president.

Creechuur

I'd like to do the same to fools who only half-read posts, then make up the rest to suit their smarmy remarks.

Flavio

Jesus +
Hitler -
Napoleon -
Einstein +
Benjamin Franklin +
Joanna Dark +
Cleopatra +-
Leonardo daVinci +
Ghandi +
(i changed my mind, Osama wasnt that important) Sheakspeare +

Drifter101

oh man i totally forgot Ghandi, oh man, oopps

Drifter101

usually in this country anything negative that happens is always blammed on the president, and it just seems a hell of alot of shit happened while this dude was in so naturally hes the easiest person to place the blame on, clinton, well nothing really bad happened in the world while he was in office besides a stain on a dress

Flavio

you are right, though Bush isnt really a good president (in my humble opinion)...thats why i didnt put any president or Osama on my list. I'd like to put Santos Dumont, a brazilian who invented the airplane, but he didnt cause too much impact...

Drifter101

theres only one president on my list and i do think he impacted not only our nation but leading others in example, Abe Lincoln, that took balls to do what he did to proclaim slavery in the north over and all slaves free was a big thing and soon other countries followed

Flavio

sure, that was very important, because it passed USA boundaries in some way (but a lot of ppl put presidents or other persons who were only important to their own country). But, in my point of view there were people who did more "noble" or worse things. But everyone has different opinions, and they must be respected....

Drifter101

i suppose you are right, i wonder though, if one could say Harry Truman due to his decision to drop the atom bomb, that did much to the world, and was his decision that dawned the atomic age

Flavio

i forgot about this embarrasment

yeah, sure some presidents can start disasters or be good to humanity (and, at some point, all of those ppl are leaders, Hitler, Napoleon...)

ragesRemorse

If it were not for George Washingtons brilliance or inspiration. we would not have America today, i think America has made a profound impact on the world in both postive and negative ways.That is why i listed him, yeah Presidents can be a biased choice in this matter,but sometimes there choices not only effect the country thet represent,but also have repercusions that can effect the world and history. Not many have done this, but few have.

HockeyHorror

Aristotle
Galen
Andreas Vesalius

thumbup

Drifter101

i did forget about the three philosophers, Plato Aristotle and Socrates i think thats how his name is spelled

Joker1237

Anne Frank??? +

Ceaser+
The Great+
Hitler-
Gundi+
Hanninble+
Joe Louis+ might as well add one sports star.
Khan-
The Hun-
And Wasthington +

Drifter101

good list there

drubby

Jesus Christ
Mohammed
Moses
Gutenberg
Julius Ceasar
Constantine
Plato
Napoleon
Alexander Fleming
Washington
Hitler
Churchill
FDR
Stalin
Oppenheimer
Mao
Gorbachev
Reagan
Ghandi
Brad Pitt

pr1983

Churchill Positive
Hitler Negative
Stalin Both Positive and Negative
Bush Negative
Kennedy Positive
Martin luther King Jr Positive
Aung San Suu Kyi Positive
Mandela Positive
Roy Keane Positive (For showing me never to accept second place)
Finally My girlfriend for showing me i have a reason to live despite the state the world is in

Drifter101

oh crap i forgot moses, hmm another bush hater i see above

pr1983

yeah, its contageous

Drifter101

eh i dunno why people hate him so much there have been worst presidents but everyone says he is sigh, oh well w/e

vaya_the_elf

I dont think I could list anyone because there are so many who make an impact

Drifter101

eh just think of the biggest and most important

vaya_the_elf

So many are important. Guess for me would be Jane Goodall

KWright08

If that statement were true, than I'm assuming you believe that the inventor of the automobile had a negative impact on the world as well? I believe that whole "It's not the car that's dangerous, but rather the driver behind the wheel thing" more than I believe that the Wright brothers are responsible for that.

hullcity

Without doubt............Captain James Cook R.N. - R.S.

The GREATEST Cartographer, Navigator, Seaman, Humanitarian, Salty Sea Dog and YORKSHIREMAN.....EVER!!

Sailed 3 of the greatest exploration voyages EVER !

Found New Zealand, Australia and most of the Polyenesian Islands - Found and charted Hawaii before his death there.

WE COULD ALL LEARN A LOT FROM WHAT THIS MAN DID AND IN THE MANNER HE DID IT !!

Even 2 of the Space Shuttles bear his Ships names - Endeavour & Discovery.......Even N.A.S.A. are Impressed by him !!

Respectfully

Moscow

Originally posted by Drifter101
yup make a top ten list of those who have impacted the world negative or positive, who out of the whole time of existance?

All ten of these can be viewed either positively or negatively. It is a list of people who have made a far-reaching impact on world history. The question might have been simplified if a specific timeframe was given, but we'll just have to make do.

1. Jesus Christ--First Century AD teacher, prophet, humanitarian who gradually paved the way for the most expansive religious following of the modern era. Crucified for spreading around a set of ideas that ran perpendicular to the ones being followed by the authorities.

2. Mohammed--Sixth/ Seventh Century AD teacher, prophet who gradually paved the way for the second most expansive religious following of the modern era. Massive split soon after his death formed two hardcore sects that continue to inflame and broil to this very day.

3. Alexander the Great--Fourth Century BC military general who successfully conquered enormous territory for Greece encompassing many miles from the Caspian Sea to Egypt to the western boundaries of India. Met an untimely end too early in his life. His death immediately divided the empire into three fragile kingdoms that ultimately dissolved into the Roman empire.

4. Homer--c. Eighth Century BC poet who orally passed down the most influential long-poem tales ever: Iliad and Odyssey

5. Mahatma Ghandi--Nineteenth/ Twentieth Century AD activist and spiritual leader who resisted British imperialism in India through mass civil disobedience (satyagraha). Spent a number of years in jail for his movement. Assassinated by a Hindu nationalist

6. Siddhartha Guatama--c. Sixth Century BC spiritual teacher regarded as the Supreme Buddha in most traditions.

7. Marco Polo-- Thirteenth Century AD navigator and merchant who introduced Europeans with the life and culture of China and Central Asia. The groundwork for European imperialism and trade finally received a valid connection.

8. Johannes Gutenberg-- Fifteenth Century AD goldsmith and printer who introduced modern book printing. Mechanical movable type printing spurned key roles in the Renaissance, Reformation and Scientific Revolution.

9. Socrates-- Fifth Century BC Greek philosopher renowned in the field of ethics and elenchus. Most of what we know from him comes from the writings of the equally renowned philosopher, Plato.

10. Martin Luther King, Jr-- Twentieth Century AD activist for minority civil rights. A man of high intellect and brilliant voice that rallied a strong cause that ultimately granted and secured enough equality between the white and non-white races. Assassinated in the turbulent Vietnam years.

inimalist

indeed

everything of importance, ever, in the history of the world, was done by a European white man

you know, because our bias of historical hindsight likes to incorporate greater political trends and Marixist ideas of power and economic relations.

The Dark Cloud

Originally posted by The Omega
I don't adhere to the "Great Men" interpretation of history.

I agree with this

Symmetric Chaos

Originally posted by inimalist
indeed

everything of importance, ever, in the history of the world, was done by a European white man

That's a result of the way education gets structured. The idea is to teach children about historical events that directly impact their lives in the modern world. In the West that means if Europeans weren't involved no one ever hears about it because it was the actions of Europeans (and the Mid East if you go back far enough) that shaped most of Western history.

inimalist

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
That's a result of the way education gets structured. The idea is to teach children about historical events that directly impact their lives in the modern world. In the West that means if Europeans weren't involved no one ever hears about it because it was the actions of Europeans (and the Mid East if you go back far enough) that shaped most of Western history.

no, I do get that

I'm more criticizing the "great man" interpretation

For me, someone like Mohammed or Alexander, sure, they were as individuals very important, but imagine either were born 100 or 200 years earlier/later, its entirely debateable as to whether we would know them at all.

Similarily, I tend to think that in most cases, history is governed by social and economic forces, meaning that most of these "great people", imho, would have been replaced by a marginally similar collegue. For me, if there were no Hitler, someone would have capitalized on the social forces of Europe at the time.

Though ya, the total ignorance of Eastern contributions to history, African contributions, or Islamic contributions outside of religion are pretty shameful for a modern education system...

(though, that text books thread)

Mindship

...meaning that most of these "great people", imho, would have been replaced by a marginally similar collegue. For me, if there were no Hitler, someone would have capitalized on the social forces of Europe at the time.
thumb up

How holistic of you.

inimalist

despite my best efforts, no man is an island

Mindship

Originally posted by inimalist
despite my best efforts, no man is an island laughing out loud

Yeah, bummer that.

Symmetric Chaos

Originally posted by inimalist
no, I do get that

I'm more criticizing the "great man" interpretation

For me, someone like Mohammed or Alexander, sure, they were as individuals very important, but imagine either were born 100 or 200 years earlier/later, its entirely debateable as to whether we would know them at all.

Similarily, I tend to think that in most cases, history is governed by social and economic forces, meaning that most of these "great people", imho, would have been replaced by a marginally similar collegue. For me, if there were no Hitler, someone would have capitalized on the social forces of Europe at the time.

But that doesn't prevent the existence of "great men". Someone else could have been Hitler, certainly, but the way things turned out Hitler was Hitler and as a result he did have a disproportionate effect on history.

Or consider history as a top of the line sports car. Innumerable factors go into that design. Similarly history is built by the actions of large numbers of nameless people. Nonetheless when it comes right down to it the car is still being driven by one person and history is strongly guided by "great men". That anyone can be put in that drivers seat strikes me as having limited importance.

I guess the real problem with the "great men" idea is that people start to think that these figures were inherently important. That Hilter would have started a world war no matter what the world was like or Alexander would have conquered so much no matter who opposed him along the way.

Originally posted by inimalist
Though ya, the total ignorance of Eastern contributions to history, African contributions, or Islamic contributions outside of religion are pretty shameful for a modern education system...

(though, that text books thread)

What annoyed me as a kid was that I got something like six years of US history (of which almost half was repeating old stuff) and only about three years of foreign history. It's not like they couldn't trim the curriculum in order to round it out just a bit.

inimalist

and like, its not that I think history would have been even remotely the same if certain people were never to have lived, maybe more that history creates situations where people, should they posess just the right qualities, can exploit these situations for enormous social change... But that historical "priming" would be, imho, the most critical factor... blah, wont just ramble about relativity of situations...

EDIT: ha, that works to answer both Sym and mindship!

but ya, I can't deny that the individual was important, its just I thnk far too much importance is placed on the person. Like, how well does anyone understand ww1? compared to ww2? "We had to stop facism, ie, Hitler, Musilinni, the Japanese guy they never taught me about in school (yay canadian curriculum, we only learn about British/French history)"

I'm not a Marxist, but I tend to think economic factors, at least, have as significant of an impact on geopolitics and history as the personality of the leaders. Among other things, ya?

dadudemon

Originally posted by inimalist
despite my best efforts, no man is an island

There WERE multiple political and military figures that held anti-Semitic ideals, the same as Hitlers. However, I am unsure if they had the same political prowess and drive as Hitler did.

In fact, if someone else did the power thing, like Hitler, it may not have even been the same. It could have been *multiple "littler" guys popping up.

It could have been a "good" guy that united some of Europe. Nothing big might have happened and Germany would have slowly stabilized, economically, or had a great depression.

*lol, I said little guys popping up. WEEEEE!

Mindship

inimalist, I tend to agree with your analysis. For me, the figure best highlighting this is Ronald Reagan. In short, I could never shake the feeling that he was the Right Guy at the Right Time, for better and/or worse.

(btw, in mentioning him, I don't mean to imply he should be on a "Biggest Impact" list: he certainly isn't on mine.)

inimalist

Originally posted by dadudemon
There WERE multiple political and military figures that held anti-Semitic ideals, the same as Hitlers. However, I am unsure if they had the same political prowess and drive as Hitler did.

In fact, if someone else did the power thing, like Hitler, it may not have even been the same. It could have been *multiple "littler" guys popping up.

It could have been a "good" guy that united some of Europe. Nothing big might have happened and Germany would have slowly stabilized, economically, or had a great depression.

*lol, I said little guys popping up. WEEEEE!

ya, absolutly, the individual matters

The most interesting thing about Hitler and Germany is that the nation, compared to most places in Europe, was very pro-Jew. During the very first discussions among the origional Jews who emmigrated to Isreal to reestablish a homeland, Germany was discussed as a possible alternative. I forget her name, but a famous female Jewish refugee remarked that the worst thing Hitler had done (not sure if the death camps were running at this point) was to strip her of her German-ness.

But, the German people, the economy, the whole geopolitics of the depression and the end of ww1 sort of created this place where a strong man could rise and take such control. I think some more general tendencies of power struggles make it more predictable that someone willing to mobilize a "Brown shirt" goon squad to kill political opponents and rough people up in the streets is going to fill a power vaccum like that, but by no means do I believe it had to be Hitler or it would be if we re-rolled history starting at 1900.

Originally posted by Mindship
inimalist, I tend to agree with your analysis. For me, the figure best highlighting this is Ronald Reagan. In short, I could never shake the feeling that he was the Right Guy at the Right Time, for better and/or worse.

(btw, in mentioning him, I don't mean to imply he should be on a "Biggest Impact" list: he certainly isn't on mine.)

totally. I'd say even the election of Obama follows that somewhat, maybe more in the way he became a worldwide celebrity more than the election itself...

Symmetric Chaos

Originally posted by Bicnarok

If fictitious characters like Jesus and Mohamed are allowed then Darth Vader must be in there as well.

I thought Muhammad's historical reality was as solid as Buddah's.

Autokrat

Let's see...

- Zoroaster for founding a dualistic religion that would heavily influence Judaism.

- Cyrus the Great for founding the Achaemenid dynasty and being a general badass.

- Alexander the Great for spreading Hellenism around and being a general badass.

- Antiochus Epiphanes for being suck a prick that the Jews would write literature inspired by his actions, leading to the book of Daniel and modern day Dispensationalism.

- Julius Caesar and Octavian for butf*cking The Republic.

- Flavius Belisarius for being an utter badass and conquering a bunch of the fallen Western Roman Empire for Justinian I with minimal aid.

- Charles Martel The Hammer for butf*cking the Moors and halting the spread of Islam in Europe.

- Charlemagne for redefining Europe and ushering in a cultural legacy that would define the Middle Ages.

- Pope Gregory VII for his role in the Investiture Controversy, cementing the power of the Church against secular rulers for years to come.

- Chengis Han, for starting an Empire that would transfer ideas back and forth from Europe all the way to Asia, oh and for being an utter badass.

- Louis XI, for reestablishing the power of the French Monarchy.

- Henry VIII for establishing the power of secular Kings against the Church (and for of course being a total dick.)

- Peter the Great of Russia for his incredible ego and turning Russian into a Great Power.

- Napoleon for his wars which would shift European power balances and for being a badass.

- Marx for well being Marx and developing ideas that would shake the world.

- Bakunin for being the father of annoying, overly optimistic, Anarchist teenagers that dress in black and commit vandalism to prove their independence.

- Hitler and Stalin for being the two most talked about pricks of the twentieth century and for somehow becoming Atheist poster boys.

There are plenty more but screw it, there are too many of them.

EDIT - I almost for Hegel, the man that inspired Marx and a bunch of other Philosophical advances either for or against him.

Symmetric Chaos

Originally posted by dadudemon
I disagree as there were several greats around his time. In fact, there were greats before his time. I'm quite certain someone would have popped up with something very similar to relativity. In fact, I don't even think that was wholly original to Eisenstein, he just had the brain to mish-mash some ideas together and expand upon those...which is really where his genius comes in.

In fact the invariance of light speed was discovered and proven by Maxwell (which is where Einstein got the idea) and E0 =mc^2 was discovered before he did (although Einstein didn't know that). The concept a maximum wattage was conceived of before Einstein (but Planck had the number wrong).

Einstein's real contribution to science was seeing what these things implied, before him they were curiosities that someone would get around to exploring later.