# In future "Greatest People Ever" lists, who alive today will rank in the top 100? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870 "2019-01-16T15:50:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/1 "2019-01-16T15:50:26Z")
A bizarre nerf ball accident has propelled your consciousness forward 200 years. When you come to, you find yourself looking at a list of the “Greatest People in History”, this list compiled in December, 2218. Who, alive today (1-16-2019, 10:50 EST), do you see on that list? What is their chart position? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/2 "2019-01-16T15:57:03Z")
Zuckerberg and Bezos probably on that list, Obama, too. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/3 "2019-01-16T16:05:15Z")
Two hundred years from now? I doubt _anyone_ alive today will be widely known, let alone considered among the 100 greatest people in history. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/4 "2019-01-16T16:09:07Z")
If it lists the greatest people in all of history, there shouldn’t be that many people that are alive today. Max of 5 maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/5 "2019-01-16T16:10:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Two hundred years from now? I doubt _anyone_ alive today will be widely known, let alone considered among the 100 greatest people in history. I don’t think widely known will be a problem. There are plenty of people that are widely known today from 200 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/6 "2019-01-16T16:14:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Two hundred years from now? I doubt _anyone_ alive today will be widely known, let alone considered among the 100 greatest people in history. Naw, there will be a few. Recency effect\* for one will almost guarantee it. I’m thinking Putin might have a shot. He has weaponized the internet in much the same way that Luther weaponized the printing press, and if Putin has the same effect that Luther did, he’s a shoo-in. \*For varying definitions of “recent”, granted. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/7 "2019-01-16T16:15:41Z")
Greatest in what sense? > [@Velocity](#): > > Zuckerberg and Bezos probably on that list, Obama, too. Unless Facebook or Amazon make some large breakthrough in their AI research, I find Zuckerberg and Bezos, especially the former, to be incredibly unlikely. Zuckerberg is more likely to be on a list of shitty people. I think Bill Gates is decently likely for his philanthropic work. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/8 "2019-01-16T16:17:28Z")
As in all my questions of this nature, you define the terms. Tell us what you mean by “Greatest” if that’s an issue with you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/9 "2019-01-16T16:30:32Z")
Assuming by greatest we mean influential, I’d pick Bill Gates. The development of personal computing is as big a historical event as the development of the printing press. And Gates has been a major figure in the field. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/10 "2019-01-16T16:35:10Z")
Elon Musk, for colonizing Mars, ranked #87 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/11 "2019-01-16T17:13:15Z")
Yeah Bill Gates. For his technical achievements and hopefully for his philanthropic achievements. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/12 "2019-01-16T17:15:02Z")
Obama, for being the last U.S. President (only half joking) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/13 "2019-01-16T17:31:56Z")
If that’s the case, and the reason, there will be a lot of negative commentary on Obama’s legacy. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/14 "2019-01-16T17:37:40Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Zuckerberg and Bezos probably on that list, Obama, too. Why Obama? He didn’t do anything particularly earth-shaking- certainly nothing on the order of Lincoln, Washington or FDR. I have a feeling it’ll be some scientist, engineer or inventor who’s working on something now that ends up being monumental in the future. Bezos… that’s an interesting one. Kind of depends how Amazon continues to unfold, I think. If it ends up continuing to transform the retail industry and how people interact with the world around them, I could possibly see it, especially if he becomes more of a philanthropist than he currently is. I think Gates is likely a shoo-in- he’s basically the closest thing we have to a 21st century Andrew Carnegie. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/15 "2019-01-16T17:41:20Z")
I think Buzz Aldrin has a good chance as being remembered as one of the first two men to walk on the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/16 "2019-01-16T17:44:24Z")
Perhaps Tim Berners-Lee? Really, without knowing what impact someone will have over the next fifty or one hundred years, it’s hard to say. Perhaps some scientist now alive will perfect fusion power and change the world as we know it. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/17 "2019-01-16T17:48:43Z")
Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or James Watson probably have the best chance but probably no one. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/18 "2019-01-16T17:54:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Perhaps Tim Berners-Lee? > > Really, without knowing what impact someone will have over the next fifty or one hundred years, it’s hard to say. Perhaps some scientist now alive will perfect fusion power and change the world as we know it. How inventors are seen in posterity is often disconnected from the brilliance and importance of thier inventions. You would have trouble naming a more remarkable invention than TV, which was not only an obviously important invention but was, in terms of how far forward a conceptual and engineering leap it was, one of the most amazing inventions of modern times. But most people don’t know who Philo Farnsworth was. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/19 "2019-01-16T17:56:59Z")
Well, one problem with that example is that Philo Farnsworth is not the undisputed sole inventor of television. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/20 "2019-01-16T17:57:28Z")
Along the lines of Bill Gates, I’d nominate Steve Jobs for reinvigorating the use of the internet for streaming purposes, putting a truly portable device (whether iPhone or iPad) into people’s hands to listen to music or watch video. His solution to illegal downloading of music by creating iTunes and getting studios and musicians on board revolutionized media distribution and probably saved the music industry. The iPod alone will probably show up in museums as an example of newly “discovered” streamlined devices that started showing up in the late 20th Century. #38 (or #438 if the list includes pre-1900 people.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870.md?page=2)