# Is Leif Erickson more worthy of fame than Columbus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 28, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964 "2017-08-28T21:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/1 "2017-08-28T21:49:14Z")
Do you think that perhaps we should start to shift our focus away from Columbus, and toward Leif Erickson as a historic figure worthy of praise and acclaim for his exploration? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/2 "2017-08-28T21:57:38Z")
Not particularity, while Columbus had many many faults, it was his voyages that led to Europeans coming to the Americas. Leif is noteworthy but effectively had no impact on history at least as far as opening the New World up. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/3 "2017-08-28T22:04:50Z")
Leif Erickson didn’t really discover America. And neither did Columbus. It was some unknown Siberian who discovered America. What Columbus did was unite the old world and the new world together. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/4 "2017-08-28T22:05:21Z")
There were people here before either of them. ---
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/5 "2017-08-28T22:25:16Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > There were people here before either of them. Sigh. The Age of Exploration really means nothing. It was a good attempt. Time to ripe down and pulverize those Leif Erickson statues too. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/6 "2017-08-28T22:28:10Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > Sigh. The Age of Exploration really means nothing. Not true, the Age of Exploration changed the world and very quickly. It was devastating to millions but also seems to be a major link in the explosive technological change the world experienced from that point forward. ---
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/7 "2017-08-28T22:30:55Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Not true, the Age of Exploration changed the world and very quickly. It was devastating to millions but also seems to be a major link in the explosive technological change the world experienced from that point forward. It doesn’t matter. We need to pulverize the statues of every explorer, or else you’re a racist Nazi who loves slavery. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/8 "2017-08-28T22:33:02Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > It doesn’t matter. We need to pulverize the statues of every explorer, or else you’re a racist Nazi who loves slavery. So this thread was a false flag? Why waste our time? ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/9 "2017-08-28T22:37:02Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > It doesn’t matter. We need to pulverize the statues of every explorer, or else you’re a racist Nazi who loves slavery. Couldn’t we just stick to statues of racist nazis who loved slavery? Why the slippery slope? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/10 "2017-08-28T22:37:07Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > It doesn’t matter. We need to pulverize the statues of every explorer, or else you’re a racist Nazi who loves slavery. People are complaining about exploitation, not exploration. I know the two words look similar. Maybe that’s where the confusion comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/11 "2017-08-28T22:39:24Z")
Limitations are bad–let’s ripe down and pulverize that statue of limitations I keep hearing about. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-leif-erickson-more-worthy-of-fame-than-columbus/794964/12 "2017-08-28T22:45:38Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > It doesn’t matter. We need to pulverize the statues of every explorer, or else you’re a racist Nazi who loves slavery. A discussion about the relative contributions of Erikson vs. Columbus can be had. This however, is not it. I’m not clear on if what you are going for is satire but to me it’s not working that way. Instead, it seems a lot like trolling. In fact, this thread takes a similar form as [a previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=833985), whereby a potentially viable topic is started and then immediately turns to unreasonable lashing out. I’m going to give it a pass in light of current circumstances and suggest you avoid topics that may cause unnecessary stress. [/moderating]