# The One Hundred Most Influential People In History Elimination Game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 6, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103 "2010-04-06T02:12:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/161 "2010-04-09T02:19:55Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Could we just make an _ad hoc_ decision to collectively dump all the fictional characters, so we can speed things up and go right to firing Hitler? I’m willing to discuss it. Other than Moses, who on the list do you believe is a fictional character? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/162 "2010-04-09T02:26:19Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’m willing to discuss it. > > Other than Moses, who on the list do you believe is a fictional character? Hitler’s fictional, too. Part of the holocaust conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/163 "2010-04-09T03:48:04Z")
Homer is probably fictional. So he should be out D’oh ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/164 "2010-04-09T04:25:24Z")
> [@bannerrefugee](#): > > Homer is probably fictional. So he should be out D’oh Yeah, but i’m gonna take that answer to mean “the guy who wrote down the Odyssey and Iliad” and that guy certainly didn’t hurt anyone- he goes down in like… top 20 or so for me probably. The guys who created religions though on the other hand… Well, I know Homer wasn’t the one who led to canceling Prom and then reinstating it for a Teenage Lesbian. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/165 "2010-04-09T04:46:37Z")
Here’s what we have for Round 2 so far: Moses - 7 votes Mohammed - 5 votes Adolf Hitler - 3 votes St Paul - 1 vote Ts’ai Lun - 1 vote ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/166 "2010-04-09T04:47:06Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’m willing to discuss it. > > Other than Moses, who on the list do you believe is a fictional character? Lao Tzu, for sure, Probably Mahavira too. Homer in any way except as the author(s) of the epics. Essentially “Homer” would just be a stand in for the influence of the books themselves. Not sure if that’s a strong enough criterion. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/167 "2010-04-09T04:54:37Z")
Of course Homers fictional, Wiki says so so it must be true. According to Martin West, “Homer” is “not the name of a historical poet, but a **fictitious** or constructed name.” & If Moses gets thrown out for being fictional then Mohammed is in the lead for rejection. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/168 "2010-04-09T05:03:57Z")
> [@bannerrefugee](#): > > Of course Homers fictional, Wiki says so so it must be true. > > According to Martin West, “Homer” is “not the name of a historical poet, but a **fictitious** or constructed name.” > > & > > If Moses gets thrown out for being fictional then Mohammed is in the lead for rejection. I’m afraid to sound like a dumbass but I’ll ask anyway: Big M’s fictional? I always thought that, unlike Moses, for example, there was real evidence for his existence? Like evidence of the wars he waged, etc? ---
**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:** [April 9, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/169 "2010-04-09T05:06:45Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > (“Homer is probably fictional.”) Yeah, but i’m gonna take that answer to mean “the guy who wrote down the Odyssey and Iliad” and that guy certainly didn’t hurt anyone- he goes down in like… top 20 or so for me probably. Defining a real person of possibly unknown name that way might be fine _if_ one could assume the Iliad and the Odyssey were written by the same person, but many find that quite unlikely. Julian Jaynes famously uses the two books as “before” and “after” evidence for his conjectured change in human consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/170 "2010-04-09T05:20:20Z")
I’m ok with just dumping Homer as fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/171 "2010-04-09T05:22:25Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I’m afraid to sound like a dumbass but I’ll ask anyway: Big M’s fictional? I always thought that, unlike Moses, for example, there was real evidence for his existence? Like evidence of the wars he waged, etc? I think he just meant that Muhammed is the current leader in votes after the fictions are cleared away. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/172 "2010-04-09T06:13:26Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think he just meant that Muhammed is the current leader in votes after the fictions are cleared away. Exactly Muhammed is doomed!!! ---
**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:** [April 9, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/173 "2010-04-09T06:25:14Z")
> [@bannerrefugee](#): > > Muhammed is doomed!!! Interesting that the first two to be eliminated may be in Hart’s Top Three! I suppose Isaac Newton will be offed immediately after that; he’s the father of modern science without which we wouldn’t have political talk shows on TV, Muzak in elevators, or phone calls from telemarketers. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/174 "2010-04-09T07:34:12Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Interesting that the first two to be eliminated may be in Hart’s Top Three! I suppose Isaac Newton will be offed immediately after that; he’s the father of modern science without which we wouldn’t have political talk shows on TV, Muzak in elevators, or phone calls from telemarketers. I hope your not implying that some posters didn’t read the whole list :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/175 "2010-04-09T09:50:39Z")
I’m torn between St. Paul and Minneapolis. Whoops, wait a minute…wrong thread. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/176 "2010-04-09T10:05:27Z")
St Paul again. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/177 "2010-04-09T12:02:18Z")
I didn’t vote last round since I wasn’t sure if the rules were going to change or not. Since they’re not, I’m going to go with St. Paul. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/178 "2010-04-09T12:23:20Z")
> [@bannerrefugee](#): > > Exactly > > Muhammed is doomed!!! I would vote for Mo, except for the fear of jihad.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/179 "2010-04-09T14:19:50Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Lao Tzu, for sure, Probably Mahavira too. Homer in any way except as the author(s) of the epics. Essentially “Homer” would just be a stand in for the influence of the books themselves. Not sure if that’s a strong enough criterion. Mahavira is almost certainly a real person; his father, the Lachuar king Siddhartha (not that Siddhartha) is known from several non-mythological accounts, as is Mahavira. Obviously, the stuff about being bathed in milk by the gods and performing miracles is probably fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103/180 "2010-04-09T17:21:00Z")
Simon Bolivar. Way overrated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-hundred-most-influential-people-in-history-elimination-game/535103.md?page=10)