# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/101 "2019-01-20T22:19:09Z")
President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Instrumental in saving the planet by initiating the Green New Deal in 2019. (probably not actually implemented until 2021 because being blocked by the Republicans). 1st US female President, 1st Hispanic President, youngest US President. Credited with saving US democracy after the disaster that was the Trump Presidency. (I don’t actually believe this, more likely we’re just fucked and there won’t be anyone around in 200 years to compose this list) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/102 "2019-01-20T22:34:42Z")
Berners-Lee will make it, just Gutenberg did: the WWW was as true a revolution as printing. Watson? Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/103 "2019-01-22T22:53:00Z")
> [@Fugazi](#): > > President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez > > Instrumental in saving the planet by initiating the Green New Deal in 2019. (probably not actually implemented until 2021 because being blocked by the Republicans). Hold your horses, she’ll be eligible in 2024. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/104 "2019-01-22T23:01:22Z")
> [@Fugazi](#): > > … (I don’t actually believe this, more likely we’re just fucked and there won’t be anyone around in 200 years to compose this list) :smack: the world is not really [going to end in 12 years](https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/426353-ocasio-cortez-the-world-will-end-in-12-years-if-we-dont-address). ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/105 "2019-01-23T01:10:01Z")
Hillary and Oprah are hardly huge names as great figures so unless this is an American only list they will scarcely figure on what they have done so far. The difficulty with any such list is predicting what will be important in the future on what has been considered in the past (or even present). ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/106 "2019-01-23T02:26:13Z")
Two centuries from now. I’d guess… Bill and Melinda Gates Paul Simon Anthony Hopkins Pope Francis (by definition) and someone who’s still a kid now but has a great future ahead of them. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/107 "2019-01-23T08:22:28Z")
Linus Torvalds is the only one I’m positive about. Maybe Snowden. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2019, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/108 "2019-10-01T00:25:54Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 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. 😉 Gonna bump this and say, with Donald Trump as President of the US & Boris Johnson the PM of the UK, a month before Brexit looks like Putin hasn’t lost his lead here. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/109 "2019-10-01T14:02:17Z")
While The Beatles might still be known as a group, I doubt anyone will remember th enames of the individual members. People will still be reading Stephen King, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s show will still be produced, and maybe Bob Dylan’s poetry will still be read and/or sung. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/110 "2019-10-01T17:48:24Z")
I agree that Bill Gates and Vladimir Putin may be the two best living candidates for the future Most Influential List. Let’s just hope that Putin’s influence does not continue to grow. :eek: Some of the popular choices are vastly over-rated IMO. Linus Torvalds, for example. He was certainly a top programmer, but there were hundreds of programmers at least as good, beginning with Unix’ actual creators, Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson. Torvalds’ special importance, IIUC, was that he was one of the few Unix gurus _who hadn’t read Unix kernel source code!_ (Those who _had_ read the source code would have been attacked by copyright lawyers if they coded a Unix look-alike.) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/111 "2019-10-02T03:51:07Z")
This decade has an unprecedented amount of its popular (digital) culture archived; whoever is still remembered will likely be an actor or singer, not something meatier like an inventor or head of state. The ones who will be remembered the way we remember Marilyn Monroe and James Dean (icons whose actual accomplishments are kind of slight) will include: Sean Connerey William Shatner Benedict Cumberbatch Madonna Dolly Parton Are Pele and Maradona still alive? ---
**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:** [February 1, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/112 "2020-02-01T00:10:41Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 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. 😉 Given today’s events, gonna double my bet on this one. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2020, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/113 "2020-02-01T00:43:15Z")
I know I keep doing that, but my boy Putin just keeps cashing those checks, so might be bumping this one for a while. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/114 "2020-02-01T01:11:10Z")
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo from football (soccer). I don’t think there’s been a more dominant rivalry between two individuals rewriting the record books for so many years. Making other great players look ordinary in comparison. They also play the world’s most popular sport even if in America it’s not that big. They’ll be recognised everywhere they go. Elon Musk, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870/115 "2020-02-01T12:42:32Z")
I haven’t read this entire thread, so not sure if this has been suggested. But if there’s some individual who winds up being credited with bringing us back from the brink of climate change disaster, then I would definitely see that person on the list 200 years from now. Greta Thunberg? Al Gore? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-future-greatest-people-ever-lists-who-alive-today-will-rank-in-the-top-100/827870.md?page=5)