Even though I rarely (in fact, have probably never) posted to one of her threads, I think Stoid is absolutely brilliant. I rarely agree with her, but hey…she at least gets me to see her side of just about everything. Trust me, you gotta be smart to pull that off with me!
biggirl is another poster who is on top of the “brainiac” list. Plus, she’s witty and not afraid to say exactly what she thinks, two things I heartily admire.
OpalCat,IMNSO, is the Queen Computer Guru, as far as I’m concerned. She knows her stuff on anything computer related. [sub][sup]I wanna be just like her when I grow up! :D[/sub][/sup]
Anthracite is also a Computer Guru, and therefore shares my respect and admiration for her intellect and insight.
There are many, many people on this board that just astound me with their intelligence, but I put these people right up there on the top of my list. You go, gals!
Tomndebb was the first that lept to my mind, just for the research and well educated posts…
Collunsbury for extensive knowledge of Africa and the Middle East, which is sorely lacking and sorely needed these days.
The Bad Astronomer and Chronos for their invaluable science knowledge.
KellyM too, for computer genius and tolerance-promotion.
I know I’m forgetting so many people I think are absolutly brilliant, these were simply on the forefront of my mind. For instance, I left off a lot of the biology people like Ben and edwino, more of the computer gurus, the logically superstrong lawyers like Jodi… This is why this board is great!
I think there are an awful lot of great minds here, far too many to name. But one stands out to me head and shoulders above all others. His towering intellect has been an inspiration to me. He taught me, by example, how to think critically, not just rationally. He has that same grasp of the essence of things that Capablanca had in chess. Here’s to you, Spiritus Mundi. […tink!..]
This statement makes it seem like I did not read the OP. What I Meant was If the great mind will bring the SDMB into the annuls of history, or will they themselves be singled out for greatness? Example being CalMeacham by the end of his career has 17 scientific discoveries under his belt, and is hearaled the greatest mind in the 22nd century, or will his fame of a great scientist cause historians to dreg up the archives of this fine message board, thus bringing great thinkers who have not made a name outside the message board into light?
It’s possible, but unlikely, that there are future great minds here. I suppose that it depends upon what the criteria are to be considered a great, influential thinker and great mind. After all, some people are given entire chapters in textbooks, while others are mere footnotes… not to mention that with the ever increasing specialization of disciplines, someone virtually unknown among the general populace could be considered a divine genius among the peers of his or her profession.
Now, I don’t mean to sound uncivil, or even ungracious, but these posts have left me scratching my head.
I mean, really! All I do is read a lot. I am not a research scientist. I used to be, but decided I didn’t like it. I have a few journal papers, but only, um, (counting on fingers) three as first author. I wrote a book, but none of it was what you would call original research; I explain things there, but I have to tip my hat towards folks like Newton, Kepler and Coriolis for having figured that stuff out first.
Understanding stuff is important, and explaining it is important too (I don’t mean to un-toot my own horn too much) but this is a far cry from having “a great mind”.
