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Forum Top 100 Final List


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#58 - Peter I "The Great"

image.jpeg.26d2885b2d342911ae260dae7f9250af.jpeg

Westernized and modernized Russia, transitioning it more into a European country than an Asian country; laid foundation for Russia becoming a great power in the future.

As "great" as he was, I get the feeling he wouldn't make most top 100 influential lists, considering many would attribute more of Russia's greatness to Catherine the Great. 

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#57 - Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli - Wikipedia

"Father of Modern Political Science" for his political theories; argued that political leaders can brush aside morality and use deception, treachery, violence, etc., if the intention and result is beneficial for the country; Argued it is better for a leader be feared than loved, if you cannot be both; his surname has come to mean deviousness or deceit.

According to his painting, he had no wrinkles and was completely smooth. I'm a little surprised he's in the top 100 because it seemed more like he reflected a politics that already existed, rather than really ushered in a change in politics. 

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#55 - Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin - Wikipedia

Led the Russian Communism party to victory during the Russian Revolution; founded and led the Soviet Union and remained an icon for them after his death.

Considering the USSR didn't even last a century and possibly would not have survived without Stalin, I find it hard that Lenin is in the top 100. It was a feasible idea when the Cold War was still active. It's possible he's obscure by the year 2100. 

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#54 - Simon Bolivar

PROFILE Simon Bolivar: Liberator of South America, then and now

Military and political Revolutionary that led independence movements in South America from Spain. Responsible for the eventual creation of six South American countries.

Considering he's the most important person for an entire continent and led the greatest disintegration of Spanish dominance, I find it strange that he's not in the top 20. 

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#53 - Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus - World History Encyclopedia

His exploration of the New World led to the permanent European colonization of the Western Hemisphere and the direct or indirect extermination of the majority of the natives of the New World; all sort of goods, plants, animals, etc. were traded between the hemispheres after Columbus.

He's kind of proof that you don't have to be great to be great. He was not a very accurate navigator if you compare him to Vasco da Gama who seemed to calculate distance and time and such with precision accuracy. Columbus sort of lucked out that he would run into land when heading to the New World. Had he aimed for China, he would died somewhere around where California is. Nevertheless, he's generally in the top 10 in most people's rankings. This ranking is kind of low for him. 

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#52 - John Calvin

John Calvin - Wikipedia

Founder of Calvinism, which is the chief philosophy of numerous protestant churches, such as Presbyterians, Congregational, Reformed. As such, Calvin has gained many more adherents than Luther. Some scholar give Calvin credit for the rise of Capitalism, since he inspired the “Protestant work ethic” and allowed the charging of interest on loans, which was condemned by other Christians.

Face so thin that he could slide his head through the bottom of a closed door. Just kidding. Personally, I think a lot of what is wrong with modern Christianity stems from Calvin. Most non-denominational churches are actually Calvinistic, which means they aren't really non-denominational. 

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#51 - Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon - Historic UK

the philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific method. He is also considered the founder of empiricism, the idea that knowledge comes from sensory experience.

One crazy thing about Bacon is that he was also a major politician. Imagine if Hillary Clinton was also a groundbreaking scientist and philosopher. He served as Lord High Chancellor -- the highest ranking minister -- for King James I. 

 

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#50 - Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant - Wikipedia

Arguably the most influential philosopher since Aristotle; Categorical Imperative has huge impact on moral philsophy; Thing in Itself has a huge impact on the concept of reality, reason, and interpretation; Critique of Pure Reason on rationalism, reason, etc.,; had impact on politics for his belief that greater Democracy mixed with international diplomacy will lead us to perpetual peace.

Not a bad ranking for a guy that never left his hometown. 

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#49 - St Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

Influential Church Father who developed the concepts of original sin, divine grace, and predestination.

Originator of a lot of things in Christianity that are treated as Biblical, despite having originated with Augustine himself. Christianity would have been drastically different without him, arguably more authentic to Jesus had Augustine not been. Talent can originate; genius must. 

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#48 - Rene Descartes

René Descartes - World History Encyclopedia

Father of Modern Western Philosophy and the father of analytical geometry. His contributions to critical thinking have made all universities, more or less, Cartesian institutions.

This will be the prefered hair-style of the 2040s among cool people, possiblye with the top and front of the hair shaved off to better resemble dog ears. Actually, this description of mine fits someone I saw in NYC, except that he had his whitish-gray long sidehair dyed urine yellow. Despite how ridiculous he looked, he was curmudgeonly and stately in a sort of Mr. Burns or Prince Philip such of way. 

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#47 - Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu | Biography, Philosophy and Facts

Founder of Taoism, a hybrid of religion and secular philosophy, that has inspired both Eastern law and worldwide anti-authoritarian movements. The Book of Tao and Taoism have a cult following, especially among people that embrace Eastern medicines, and Eastern theories of mental and physical well-being.

I used to abide by his philosophy by sheer nature. Living in NYC kind of changed this. I'm not sure Lao could have lived in NYC without being trampled (although, he'd accept the trampling). I think the world would have been better off if Taoism had spread as well and as strongly as Christianity or Islam, although it certainly would have been corrupted by their version of an influential St Paul, St Augustine, Constantine, etc. So much of Taoism is at complete odds with American life (especially work life) that Taoism is, at best, accepted as a kind of meditation here rather than as a full-fledged practiced religion.  

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#46 - King David

King David - World History Encyclopedia

Arguably the most influential King of Israel; kills Goliath, captures Jerusalem; considered the ideal King and a forerunner for Jesus.

Crazy to think that he doesn't even make this list if Jesus never existed. He'd likely be a kind of footnote for most Westerners not of Jewish descent. 

 

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#45 - Josef Stalin

Joseph Stalin - Wikiquote

Rapidly industrialized Russia into a superpower that both helped end World War II and led to another conflict, as one of the two major powers during the Cold War. Stalinism has often been used as an example to misrepresent Socialism. Russia’s relative strength today is due in part to Stalin’s regime.

Hated by both capitalists and socialists. Killed more people than Hitler but fewer than Mao. I think in about 100 years, he'll probably drop out of the top 100, considering the USSR fell. Much of that depends on how much credit Stalin gets for defeating Hitler and the Axis Powers in WWII. 

 

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#44 - William the Conqueror

Not so jovial after all: how historians misunderstood William the Conqueror  | Books | The Guardian

Led the Norman invasion that fundamentally altered the language, customs, culture, identity, government, nobility, etc. Set the stage for the long-lasting wars and rivalry between England and France.

What we think about England and their history comes from him. Prior to William the C, we don't have knights, castles, or an English system of laws or English judicial system, because these two things come from the Latin and French based systems of the Normans. The language itself changed drastically with the Norman Invasion. The heavily-germanic Old English is replaced with Middle English, which is heavily influenced by Norman French and Church Latin. Even the system of numbering their monarchs comes from William -- Charles III, etc. Previously, there would just be a nickname. Edward the Confessor, Aethelred the Unready, etc. What's more confusing is that the Normans were previously Germanic too, they were Norse. And the French were Franks who were Germans. The French are just completely bastardized. Their language is latin-based but the people are probably more Germanic and Gaelic in origin than Latin-based people. 

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#43 - Genghis Khan

Five Things to Know About Genghis Khan

First Great Khan and Emperor of the Mongol Empire, arguably the largest Empire in human history, although the empire was split after his death; conquored China and committed genocide, altering the genetics of East and Central Asia.

If you adjust for population inflation, no person presided over the deaths of more people and altered the genetic code of more people. He sent probably 25-40% of the civilized world scattering. It's believed that about 8% of all people today that are living in his former Empire are descended from him, which because of the dense population, amounts to 0.5% of the entire world population. This is just based off Y-Chromosome data. It could be even higher. 

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#42 - Charlemagne

Charlemagne | Biography, Accomplishments, Children, & Facts | Britannica

"The Father of Europe"; Unified Western and Central Europe; Crucial to the identities of both France and Germany; First Holy Roman Emperor; Spurred the Carlingian Renaissance, which prompted a rare intellectual and culture movement in a relatively dark period of cultural intellectualism. Influential in spreading Christianity and blunting the spread of Islam.

Apparently he was 6'4" and had the voice of a high-pitched little girl. He also either couldn't read or was barely literate despite his inspiring of scholastic learnng, a kind of reprieve from what is sometimes called part of the Dark Ages. My favorite timeline of Europe is from Charlemagne to the European Union. There's something bookendy about that. One thing not mentioned here is that a lot of Napoleon's inspiration for territorial expansion was that he saw himself as successor or equal to Charlemagne. 

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#41 - George Washington

George Washington: Facts, Revolution & Presidency - HISTORY

first president of the United States, setting the precedents for the most powerful influential position in history. Presided over the Constitutional Convention, which created the oldest active constitution. Commanding general during the Revolutionary War.

One thing not considred here is that Washington was the first person in history that was head of state with the title "President." This title is now used through much of the world today. That alone might keep Washington in the top 100, even should the US fold as a significant world power. 

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#40 - Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar - Wikipedia

One of the most studied political and military leaders in history; his life and assassination has been captured in art, literature, and film for centuries; his surname has became a synonym for "Emperor" even though he was only a dictator.

I think in 100 years he won't be on much of anyone's top 100 list. Much of what made him influential isn't really there anymore, except maybe the salad. We don't have emperors. We don't really cover him in art, literature, or film anymore. His military strategies only have an indirect usefulness in today's warfare. He's overshadowed by Augustus and others in regards to how Rome shaped the USA as well. I think Shakespeare might also be helping prop up the corpse of Caesar. 

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#39 - St Paul

Paul of Tarsus quotes (65 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

Most important figure in the spread and survival of Christianity by hellenizing it and making it palatable to non-Jewish Roman citizens; all major sects of Christianity today are Pauline, rather than Jamesian, Gnostic, etc., which were prevalent in Paul's time.

He probably should be in the top 10, so long as Christianity is a major religion. See my write-up on St Peter to see more of my views of St Paul. I'd even argue that Jesus could be more influential than Jesus since it seems like Paul shaped Christianity more towards his Hellenistic (although Jewish) worldview than to Jesus's possibly anti-hellenistic Judaism, if we are to believe that Jesus was more similar to his brother James the Just than to St Paul, who never met Jesus. I make the argument that St Paul is the first Moden Man, especially if you consider some of his language -- "to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews...  to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men..."

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#38 - Jean Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life &  Achievements

His theories that private property was the basis of social inequality inspired political reform in Europe, including the French Revolution

He married an incredibly stupid and illiterate woman on purpose. He would give away their children to orphanges (which had high mortality rates then). He also had some weird condition in which he always felt like he had to urinate. 

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#34 - Mohandas Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi - Wikiquote

Pop culture figure; arguably the most well-known practitioner of non-violent resistance; led the movement that eventually saw Indian gain independence from the UK; inspires worldwide Civil Rights and freedoms.

Had a great admiration for Jesus but not for Christians, who he believed were very unlike Jesus. 

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