# Who, in all of human history, has had the greatest impact upon modern society?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-all-of-human-history-has-had-the-greatest-impact-upon-modern-society/622264>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 17, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-all-of-human-history-has-had-the-greatest-impact-upon-modern-society/622264 "2012-05-17T23:09:09Z")\
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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-all-of-human-history-has-had-the-greatest-impact-upon-modern-society/622264/39 "2012-05-18T08:15:56Z")

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> [@John\_McCue](#):
>
> Although I am not religious, I would have to say Jesus had the greatest influence on Western society

During the epic thread alluded to by JohnT, Jesus had tough competition against St. Paul and Mohammad. While Christianity has more followers than Islam, it required both Paul and Jesus of Nazarath to exist, so Mohammad ultimately defeated them both. In fact Paul edged out Jesus narrowly. My take: “Mohammad beats Christianity because his genius was literary, religious and political. I judge St. Paul to be necessary for Christianity to take hold: Jesus of Nazareth was merely born into the role, as it were. Alternatively, I ascribe a substantial share of his teachings to those who came before and after him.”

The thread was originally inspired by a list of Michael Hart. I’ll quote myself:

> [@The 100 Most Influential People - Try the Third](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-100-most-influential-people-try-the-third/536080/702):
>
> I took the top 20 from the SDMB list and the top 20 from Hart’s list and merged them. Here they are in alphabetical order:
> 
> Albert Einstein physicist; relativity; Einsteinian physics  
> Antoine Laurent Lavoisier father of modern chemistry; philosopher; economist  
> Aristotle influential Greek philosopher  
> Augustus Caesar ruler  
> Buddha founder of Buddhism  
> Charles Darwin biologist; described Darwinian evolution  
> Christopher Columbus explorer; led Europe to Americas  
> Confucius founder of Confucianism  
> Euclid mathematician; Euclidian geometry  
> Galileo Galilei astronomer; accurately described heliocentric solar system  
> Genghis Khan SDMB 8  
> George Washington SDMB 6  
> Isaac Newton Physicst, Mathematician  
> James Watt SDMB 10  
> Jesus Christ founder of Christianity  
> Johann Gutenberg developed movable type; printed Bibles  
> Karl Marx SDMB 20  
> Lenin SDMB 17  
> Louis Pasteur scientist; pasteurization  
> Moses major prophet of Judaism  
> Mohammad Prophet of Islam; conqueror of Arabia  
> Nicolaus Copernicus astronomer; taught heliocentricity  
> Plato SDMB 11  
> Shih Huang Ti Chinese emperor  
> St Paul Judaism; Christianity  
> Sui Wen Ti, unified China, SDMB 13  
> Thomas Edison SDMB 15  
> Ts’ai Lun inventor of paper
> 
> Those compiling a personal top 10 list might choose from among these candidates.

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