Invention. Christopher Columbus
Leader. John F Kennedy
Philosophy. Mencius
Religion. Constantine the Great.
Science. Sigmund Freud
Invention. Ts’ai Lun
Leader. John F Kennedy
Philosophy. Mencius
Religion. Mani
Science. Antonine Laurent Lavoisier
Invention. Ts’ai Lun
Leaders. John F. Kennedy
Philosophy and Arts. Homer
Religion. Moses
Science. Sigmund Freud
Notes:
Ts’ai Lun, Homer and Moses chosen for being (probably) fictional
Invention. Gregory Pincus
Leader. Simon Bolivar
Philosophy. Thomas Malthus
Religion. Mani
Science. Antonine Laurent Lavoisier
10 more hours 'til the end of round 1!
invention. Orville and Wilbur Wright
Leaders. Menes
Philosophy. Mencius
Religion. Zoraster
Science. Enrico Fermi
Invention. Ts’ai Lun
Leader. Simon Bolivar
Philosophy. Voltaire
Religion. John Calvin
Science. William Harvey
Invention. Gregory Pincus
Leader. John F Kennedy
Philosophy. Thomas Malthus
Religion. Mani
Science. Sigmund Freud
I normally don’t participate in these, but this one seems pretty interesting. I think the invention credited to Pincus is just too recent and I think it gets more impact for influence than it deserves. Kennedy, I think, is an obvious one and simply doesn’t belong on this list at all IMO. Manichaeism I think is just less influential than most of the other religions; Calvin is close though. And I think Freud was pretty much a quack, and while he may have been influential at one point, I’m not sure how influential he is now.
For those voting for “imaginary people”, I would strongly urge you to reconsider. Some of them very well may be fictional, but the things attributed to them were done by someone, or probably a small group of people, and that influence is still real. Hell, people we KNOW are fictional have some pretty massive influence (Santa Claus being a notable example and one could probably pick any number of comic, movie, or literary characters too). Similarly, I’ve seen it claimed that the works of Shakespeare may have been written by one or many other authors (I don’t know whether it’s an accurate claim or not, and it’s not really relevant, bare with me), and yet, whether he actually wrote them himself or not doesn’t matter. Our image of him may not be historically accurate, but that image is what has influence, and thus, I think that historical accuracy doesn’t matter.
Ts’ai Lun, since someone mentioned him, he may be fictional (I don’t know enough about him to say with any level of certain), but SOMEONE invented paper, and that invention alone is extremely influential. Homer is almost certainly a number of various authors, but that collective is given this single image and, along with whoever wrote it all down, that image is extremely influential. Same goes with Moses; he may have been multiple people, I dunno, but considering that vast majority of Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe it to be one person, and those three religions being MASSIVELY influential, even if he isn’t real, that person is still influential.
Especially in the religious area, if this trend continues, I can see the same argument made by some people for probably a third of that list, and several others in other lists, and I’d hate it to come down to an argument of existence or not since, quite frankly, I don’t think it’s particularly relevant to the level of influence.
Invention.Alexander Graham Bell
Leader.Mikhail Gorbachev
Arts.Ludwig von Beethoven
Religion.Mani
Science.Sigmund Freud
There are no unworthy choices on the Inventors list, but Bell had so many talented rivals who were so close to inventing telephone technology that, had he died young or given up his efforts, I’m pretty sure phone technology would be no worse today.
On the leaders list, Gorbachev is just a bit more overrated than JFK. The Soviet Union collapsed around him. He was a witness to events more than a shaper of them. And if Putin gets his way, everything that happened under Gorbachev and Yeltsin will soon be undone, anyway.
I love much of Beethoven’s music, but can’t think of ANY composer who’s really changed or shaped the world via his art
Mani’s heresy just wasn’t long-lived or important enough.
Obviously, Freud infuenced the world far more than many of the other people on the science list, but I’m judging him as a scientist. And he contributed nothing worthwhile to our understanding of the brain or human behavior.
Inventions. Orville and Wilbur Wright
Leader. John F Kennedy
Philosophy and Arts. Rene Descrates
Religion. Mahavira
Science. Werner Heisenberg
My explanations:
Orville and Wilbur Wright - Lots of people were developing aircraft at the same time. They just happened to do it that week.
John F Kennedy - Minor American President. Launching the Apollo program was probably something any President would have done after Sputnik. And it’s increasingly appearing the Apollo program was a dead end.
Rene Descrates - Philosophy is a pretty esoteric influence.
Mahavira - Jainism has never been a major religion.
Werner Heisenberg - Quantum physics has not really had any major real world influence.
Sadly, albeit unnecessarily, true. And I agree that even given the unrecognized potential of using the Moon, Nixon would have also joined with the USSR in the “first to the moon” race, and - arguably - would have been interested in actually planting a permanent station on it.
Four more hours.
2 categories are tied…
Is there a rule for tiebreakers?
Quote the OP:
Invention. Francisco Pizarro
Leader. Josef Stalin
Philosophy. Jean-Jacques Rosseau
Religion. Pope Urban II
Science. Nicolas Copernicus
I wish Invention and Exploration were separate categories.
The goal was to get five roughly-equal categories.
In the original breakdown I had an “exploration” category, which only yielded 4 names (Columbus, De Gama, Pizarro, and Cortes). Invention had 14 names, so to I combined the two categories and then took 2 original scientists (a category originally with 23 entries) and re-assigned them as inventors.
Same thing with Philosophy and the Arts. Philosophy originally had 14, arts had 5, so those categories were combined, and I re-categorized one leader (Jefferson) as a Philosopher (and I did this more to make the Leader category smaller, really) to end up with 20.
Leaders originally had 27 people - I reassigned 4 to Religion and 1 to Philosophy to end up with 22.
I also thought the Explorers were poorly represented. King Henry the Navigator needs to be on the list before De Gama, there was no Magellen(!), the list was very western-European 1350-1450 centric, etc.
Here are the people voted off of Island Influential:
Category, Name, Description, Original Hart Ranking
Invention and Exploration, Gregory Pincus, Invented Birth Control Pill, 82
Leader, John F Kennedy, American President, Originated Manned Mission to Moon, 81
Religion, Mahavira, Founder of Jainism, 100
Philosophy and Arts, Mencius, Chinese Philosopher, Expanded Confucianism, 92
Science, Sigmund Freud, Psychologist, Developed Freudian Psychology, 69
JFK was the big vote-getter with 12 votes cast for him. Three tie-breakers: Pincus lost to Pizarro (7 votes each), as did Mencius (7 votes, tied with Malthus), and Mahavira (8 votes tied Mani).
Second round starts Saturday!
In his book, it is Jefferson’s importance as a philosopher that Hart emphasizes, mentioning that someone called him the “preeminent spokesman for human liberty.”
Is there an on-line version of Hart’s book with more than just the raw list? Hart’s analysis is much better than some seem to be assuming. I’d hoped to use his reasoning as a starting point and, frankly, have been disappointed.
Inventions and Exploration (20 people)
1, Alexander Fleming - Scientist, Invented Penicillin
2, Alexander Graham Bell - Scientist, Invented Telephone
3, Antony van Leeuwenhoek - Scientist, Inventor of Microscope
4, Christopher Columbus - Explorer, Discoverer of America
5, Edward Jenner - Scientist, Developed Vaccination for Smallpox
6, Francisco Pizarro - Spanish Adventurer, Conquered Inca Empire
8, Gugilemo Marconi - Scientist, Invented Radio
9, Henry Ford - American Industrialist, Developed Mass Production Techniques
10, Hernando Cortes - Spanish Adventurer, Conquered Aztec Empire
11, James Watt - British Scientist, Invented Steam Engine
12, Johann Gutenberg - Scientist, Inventor of Printing Press
13, Joseph Lister - Scientist, Developed Antiseptic Methods
14, Louis Dagurre - Scientist, Invented Photography
15, Nikolaus August Otto - Scientist, Developed Internal Combustion Engine
16, Orville and Wilbur Wright - Scientists, Inventor of Airplane
17, Thomas Edison - American Scientist, 1,000+ inventions
18, Ts’ai Lun - Scientist, Inventor of Paper
19, Vasco de Gama - Explorer, Discovered Cape of Good Hope
20, William TG Morton - Scientist, Invented Anaesthesia
Leader
1, Adolf Hitler - German Dictator, Started World War II
2, Alexander the Great - Macedonian Ruler, Formed Macedonian Empire
3, Augustus Caesar - Roman Princep, Founded Roman Empire
4, Charlemagne - Frankish Monarch, Founder of Holy Roman Empire
5, Cyrus the Great - Persian Emperor, Founded Persian Emperor
6, Genghis Khan - Mongol Ruler, Founded Mongol Empire
7, George Washington - American Statesman and General, Fought For Independence of United States
9, Josef Stalin - Dictator of USSR, Expanded Communism
10, Julius Caesar - Roman General, Ended Roman Civil Wars
11, Lenin - Russian Leader, Founded Communism in Russia
12, Mao Zedong - Chinese Dictator, Established Communism in China
13, Menes - Egyptian Pharaoh, United Egypt
14, Mikhail Gorbachev - Soviet Leader, Liberalized and Helped Break Up USSR
15, Napoleon Bonaparte - French Emperor, Waged Napoleonic Wars
16, Peter the Great - Russian Emperor, Modernized Russia
17, Queen Elizabeth I - Queen of England, Made England a Naval Power
18, Queen Isabella I - Queen of Spain, Sponsored Columbus’ Expeditions
19, Shi Huang Di - Chinese Emperor, United China
20, Simon Bolivar - Latin American General and Statesman, Waged Wars of Independence
21, Sui Wen Ti - Chinese Emperor, Reunited China
22, William the Conquerer - Norman Duke and English King, Led In Norman Conquest of England
Philosophy and Arts
1, Adam Smith - Economist, Advocated Capitalism
2, Aristotle - Greek Philosopher
3, Confucius - Chinese Philosopher, Founder of Confucianism
4, Francis Bacon - Philosopher, Developed Scientific Method
5, Homer - Greek Poet, Writer of Epics
6, Jean-Jacques Rosseau - French Philosopher and Writer
7, Johann Sebastian Bach – Composer
8, John Locke - British Philosopher, Developed Democratic Ideas
9, Karl Marx - Economist, Founder of Communism
10, Lao Tzu - Chinese Philosopher, Founded Taoism
11, Ludwig von Beethoven – Composer
13, Michelangelo - Artist, Sculptor
14, Nicoli Machiavelli - Political Theorist
15, Plato - Greek Philosopher, Developed Platonism
16, Rene Descrates - French Philosopher
17, Thomas Jefferson - American Statesman, Wrote Declaration of Independence, Louisiana Purchase
18, Thomas Malthus - Economist, Developed Malthusian Theory
19, Voltaire - French Philosopher
20, William Shakespeare - English Playwright
Religion
1, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab - Muslim Caliph, Expanded the Caliphate
2, Asoka - Indian Emperor, Spread Buddhism
3, Buddha - Founder of Buddhism
4, Constantine the Great - Roman Emperor, Tolerated and Promoted Christianity in Rome
5, Jesus Christ - Founder of Christianity
6, John Calvin - Christian Theologian, Developed Calvinism
7, Justinian I - Byzantine Emperor, Recovered Much of Roman Empire
9, Mani - Founder of Manichaeism
10, Martin Luther - Theologian, Started Protestantism and Reformation
11, Mohammed - Founder of Islam
12, Moses - Jewish Prophet
13, Oliver Cromwell - British Ruler
14, Pope Urban II - Pope of Roman Catholic Church, Called For Crusades
15, St Augustine - Christian Theologian
16, St Paul - Christian Missionary and Apostle
17, Zoraster - Founder of Zorasterianism
Science
1, Albert Einstein - Scientist, Physicist, Theory of Relativity
2, Antonine Laurent Lavoisier - French Scientist, Advanced Chemistry
3, Charles Darwin - British Scientist, Theory of Evolution
4, Enrico Fermi - Scientist, Developed Atomic Bomb
5, Ernest Rutherford - Scientist, Developed Subatomic Physics
6, Euclid - Greek Mathematician
7, Galileo Galilei - Scientist, Advocated Heliocentricity
8, Gregor Mendel - Priest and Scientist, Advanced Genetics
9, Isaac Newton - British Scientist, Theory of Universal Gravitation and Motion
10, James Clerk Marxwell - Scientist, Electromagnetism
11, Johannes Kepler - Scientist, Developed Theories of Planetary Motion
12, John Dalton - Scientist, Atomic Theory
13, Leonhard Euler – Mathematician
14, Louis Pasteur - Scientist, Pasteurization, Germ Theory of Disease
15, Max Planck - Scientist, Developed Therodynamics
16, Michael Faraday - British Scientist, Discovered Electromagnetism
17, Nicolas Copernicus - Scientist, Theory of Heliocentricity
19, Werner Heisenberg - Scientist, Developed Quantum Physics
20, William Conrad Roentgen - Scientist, Discovered X-Rays, principles of radioactivity
21, William Harvey - Scientist, Developed Theories of Blood Circulation
Btw, slight rule change: Y’all can start voting for the next round when I post the results and remaining people from the final round.
End dates still remain the same, however.