Who is the most influential person in history?

alexmike · May 22, 2010

I would have to say that the most influential person in history is Jesus Christ. Now I know many people might find this controversial, but every person who has had influence has also caused controversy.

A man who was nothing more than a carpenter's son is still influencing people after 2000 years.

That's got to mean something.

Dirk · May 22, 2010

alexmike said:
I would have to say that the most influential person in history is Jesus Christ. Now I know many people might find this controversial, but every person who has had influence has also caused controversy.

A man who was nothing more than a carpenter's son is still influencing people after 2000 years.

That's got to mean something.

Presuming he actually existed.

tdbatista · Nov 20, 2012

And some that have changed the political, social and religious of today:

Carl Marx
Sun Tzu
Luther
Ayatollah Khomeini
Darwin

tdbatista · Nov 20, 2012

irahat said:
I read this book which sort 100 most influential person in history. As i read through the writer is Christian. In his book he put Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as the no 1 among 100 people. And Jesus he put on the 3rd. Good book for whom looking information about Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). He is the best role model for the world nation.

The book is A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in the History by Michael H. Hart.

Like any ideology, religion is perfect in theory, not in practice. Especially when mixed with politics = Jihad, Inquisition, KKK, persecution, and oppression of minorities.

6000 years of humanity are proving that religion is not the ideal model to run a country.

tecoyah · Nov 20, 2012

Most influential to humanity ~ Alexander the Great

Most influential to me ~ Carl Sagan

myp · Nov 20, 2012

I just realized that I never gave my answer to this question. It is a difficult one though because history is a continuum so even something that might seem relatively insignificant might not be if it led to some more significant later. That being said, Jesus Christ is certainly one of the most influential, as are Leonardo Da Vinci, Issac Newton, and Albert Einstein.

Hammer · Nov 20, 2012

There's no question, Jesus is the most influential person in history. Anyone who denies that is practicing the art of Bullsh!t. Maybe the question should be, "Other than a religious figure..."

Individual Scientists and inventors are highly over-rated as influential because any of their contributions would have been quickly contributed by anyone else. Also, their actual contributions are always only a tiny fraction that they're popularly given credit for.

A few politicians can have a great influence for a short while. But, in the long run, they are only history.

People with small minds tend to name 20th-century figures, near contemporaries, because their small minds can't grasp the big picture.

myp · Nov 20, 2012

Hammer said:
There's no question, Jesus is the most influential person in history. Anyone who denies that is practicing the art of Bullsh!t. Maybe the question should be, "Other than a religious figure..."

Considering that it is an opinion if no metrics are attached to the question (which in the form I put it there are none), your statement here is actually what is bullshit.

Hammer said:
Individual Scientists and inventors are highly over-rated as influential because any of their contributions would have been quickly contributed by anyone else. Also, their actual contributions are always only a tiny fraction that they're popularly given credit for.

You clearly do not know much about the genius of people like Einstein, Newton, Da Vinci, etc. Someone doesn't just "think" of relativity or calculus or Newtonian physics when everything else in the world is opposed to what that suggests. Maybe over time we would have learned the same things, but certainly not in the same short time frame.

Hammer said:
People with small minds tend to name 20th-century figures, near contemporaries, because their small minds can't grasp the big picture.

I think people with small minds have such huge egos that they can't differentiate fact from myth and reality from their fantasies.

tecoyah · Nov 20, 2012

Hammer said:
There's no question, Jesus is the most influential person in history. Anyone who denies that is practicing the art of Bullsh!t. Maybe the question should be, "Other than a religious figure..."

Individual Scientists and inventors are highly over-rated as influential because any of their contributions would have been quickly contributed by anyone else. Also, their actual contributions are always only a tiny fraction that they're popularly given credit for.

A few politicians can have a great influence for a short while. But, in the long run, they are only history.

People with small minds tend to name 20th-century figures, near contemporaries, because their small minds can't grasp the big picture.

Yet...without Alexander, Jesus would have likely remained an unknown Rabbi.

=Zoomer= · Nov 20, 2012

tecoyah said:
Yet...without Alexander, Jesus would have likely remained an unknown Rabbi.

And.....arguably, Mohammed and Buddha have been "more influencial" than Jesus.

tecoyah · Nov 20, 2012

=Zoomer= said:
And.....arguably, Mohammed and Buddha have been "more influencial" than Jesus.

Agreed...+1

Hammer · Nov 26, 2012

=Zoomer= said:
And.....arguably, Mohammed and Buddha have been "more influencial" than Jesus.

There are far more Christians than Muslims in the world. And, Jesus influenced Islam (Jesus is a living messiah in Islam.)

Buddhists are a much smaller group still. Drop China, and the world's Buddhists would be practically insignificant.

Anti-Christian Bigotry might score you points in this forum, but it only guides you into error.

myp · Nov 26, 2012

Hammer said:
Drop China, and the world's Buddhists would be practically insignificant.

Wait, why are you dropping China? How does that make any logical sense? How about I say, drop Christians and there are no Christians in the world? Very random.

Hammer · Nov 26, 2012

myp said:
Wait, why are you dropping China? How does that make any logical sense? How about I say, drop Christians and there are no Christians in the world? Very random.

One measure of influence is how far spread a religion is. When most adherents are in a single country (Buddhism China, Hindu India) it shows that the influence is not as great as raw numbers of adherents might suggest. Islam itself has only recently made much progress outside of the middle-east.

myp · Nov 26, 2012

Hammer said:
One measure of influence is how far spread a religion is. When most adherents are in a single country (Buddhism China, Hindu India) it shows that the influence is not as great as raw numbers of adherents might suggest. Islam itself has only recently made much progress outside of the middle-east.

Depends on how you define influence. Does geography matter or does population? If it is the former as you suggest, and we were to one day send a Buddhist man to Mars, would Buddhism be the most influential?

Hammer · Nov 26, 2012

myp said:
Depends on how you define influence. Does geography matter or does population? If it is the former as you suggest, and we were to one day send a Buddhist man to Mars, would Buddhism be the most influential?

Do you have any excuse to suggest that geography doesn't matter? And, how useless it is to invite a debate of geography vs. population when Christianity wins by both measures?

Probably only Christians have been to the moon, sense you have an inkling that space travel is related to influence. One of the first human acts on the moon was the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion.

clax · Nov 26, 2012

I can't say, to me, my lover evan. But to humanity, person... I cant say. To say perhaps nicoli tesla marginalizes magellon.

I stand by my original choice, Evan. Perhaps his little bro who lives with us.

tdbatista · Nov 27, 2012

Christianity is the first religion with more fans, then comes Islam and Atheism by a third party.

myp · Nov 27, 2012

Hammer said:
Do you have any excuse to suggest that geography doesn't matter? And, how useless it is to invite a debate of geography vs. population when Christianity wins by both measures?

Probably only Christians have been to the moon, sense you have an inkling that space travel is related to influence. One of the first human acts on the moon was the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion.

You missed my point. You dismissed Buddhism's numbers because of the geographic concentration, so I asked a hypothetical in which geographic dispersion is tremendous to make you see that your argument against Buddhism doesn't make much sense.

David · Nov 27, 2012

myp said:
You missed my point. You dismissed Buddhism's numbers because of the geographic concentration, so I asked a hypothetical in which geographic dispersion is tremendous to make you see that your argument against Buddhism doesn't make much sense.

In any case, Christianity is more an argument for Saul's influence as it's his religion. Jesus was dead and gone a few decades before Christianity got started.

Who is the most influential person in history?

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