Personal Development for Smart People Forums

Personal Development for Smart PeopleTM Forums

Go Back   Personal Development for Smart People Forums > Personal Development > World Affairs
Who is the top intellectual in the world? Who is the top intellectual in the world?
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

World Affairs Politics, government, leadership, elections, global issues, environmental issues, economics, domestic policy, foreign policy, social change, human rights, civil liberty, healthcare, education, news, history, space exploration


Welcome to the Personal Development for Smart People Forums, the place for lively, intelligent discussion of all personal growth issues -- physical, mental, financial, social, emotional, spiritual, and more.

You're currently viewing as a guest, which gives you limited read-only access. By joining our free community, you'll be able to post your own messages, access many members-only features, see the new messages posted since your last visit, and of course remove this header message. Registration is fast, simple, and free, so please join today.

If you arrived here from a search engine, you may want to explore the main site first, which includes hundreds of deep and insightful articles on a variety of personal development topics.
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 04-28-2008, 08:29 PM
Moderator
  
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Berlin, Germany
Posts: 2,077
Brutha is on a distinguished road
Default Who is the top intellectual in the world?
At the moment there is a poll @ Prospect about the top intellectuals.
I have voted for Paul Krugman, Mohamed Yunus, Jared Diamond, Lawrence Lessig and Steven Pinker.
Who is your choice?
__________________
I am always open for feedback on my posts. That might focused on the argument at hand or on my writing style. If your feedback would go offtopic feel free to send me a Personal Message.

Reality is fragile
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 04-28-2008, 09:33 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 262
Marco Polo is on a distinguished road
Default
Note the difference between the top intellectual and the top public intellectual. That's an extremely important distinction.

Anyway, it's an interesting list that they've compiled. I think I'll need a bit more research before making my descision...
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 04-28-2008, 10:02 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: May 2007
Location: England
Posts: 452
Plato is on a distinguished road
Default
I haven't even heard of most of them!
__________________
Swing it, shake it, move it, make it, Who do you think you are?
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 04-28-2008, 10:13 PM
Junior Member
  
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 4
Jasumi is on a distinguished road
Default
To me, there is no top intellectual. In an infinite Universe, there will ALWAYS be someone who equally as intelligent, less intelligent, or more intelligent than the individual. And based on my spiritual view the we are all One Being, you would not only be the most intelligent person in existence and but also the least intelligent, and all the grey areas in between.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 04-28-2008, 11:28 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Michigan
Posts: 296
coLLege kid07 is on a distinguished road
Default
hmm surprised stephan hawking's not on that list.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 04-29-2008, 12:37 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 1,031
Jennihul is on a distinguished road
Send a message via Yahoo to Jennihul
Default
I like Ken Wilber.

Jennifer
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 04-29-2008, 04:41 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Texas, U.S.A.
Posts: 210
PianoManGidley is on a distinguished road
Send a message via AIM to PianoManGidley Send a message via MSN to PianoManGidley
Default
Last I checked Guinness World Records listed Marilyn vos Savant as the smartest person alive, and many historians and musicologists alike classify Mozart to be the smartest human to have ever lived.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 04-29-2008, 04:45 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,011
Sam988 is an unknown quantity at this point
Default
Richard Dawkins, J. Craig Venter, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso (our former president). I don't know the majority of the others anyways



Hah Pope Benedict XVI in the list? Is that some sort of joke? If there was any list he should be in, it should be in some sort of the most retrograde and limited minds of our time, 2nd only to the dear president Mr. Bush and some other neo-cons out there...
__________________
All that matters is results.

Turbo mode now! Full schedule. Bye bye.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
Old 04-29-2008, 04:56 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Texas, U.S.A.
Posts: 210
PianoManGidley is on a distinguished road
Send a message via AIM to PianoManGidley Send a message via MSN to PianoManGidley
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam988 View Post
Hah Pope Benedict XVI in the list? Is that some sort of joke? If there was any list he should be in, it should be in some sort of the most retrograde and limited minds of our time, 2nd only to the dear president Mr. Bush and some other neo-cons out there...
Trust me--George W. Bush isn't nearly as bad as folks like Ted Haggard, Bob Enyart, Fred Phelps, Pat Robertson, and Dr. Paul Cameron.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #10 (permalink)  
Old 04-29-2008, 05:47 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,011
Sam988 is an unknown quantity at this point
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by PianoManGidley View Post
Trust me--George W. Bush isn't nearly as bad as folks like Ted Haggard, Bob Enyart, Fred Phelps, Pat Robertson, and Dr. Paul Cameron.

Maybe not but he's the one with the most influence so the damages he causes to the world are greater.
__________________
All that matters is results.

Turbo mode now! Full schedule. Bye bye.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #11 (permalink)  
Old 04-29-2008, 02:10 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Texas, U.S.A.
Posts: 210
PianoManGidley is on a distinguished road
Send a message via AIM to PianoManGidley Send a message via MSN to PianoManGidley
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam988 View Post
Maybe not but he's the one with the most influence so the damages he causes to the world are greater.
Then let's just be glad that Bob Enyart and Paul Cameron aren't as in charge, since they've publicly advocated atrocities such as the genocide of all gay people.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #12 (permalink)  
Old 04-29-2008, 02:25 PM
Moderator
  
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Berlin, Germany
Posts: 2,077
Brutha is on a distinguished road
Default
Quote:
Note the difference between the top intellectual and the top public intellectual. That's an extremely important distinction.
You are right.
Quote:
hmm surprised stephan hawking's not on that list.
Because he is a specilist and has only impacted one area.
He didn't do much outside of physics.
Quote:
Last I checked Guinness World Records listed Marilyn vos Savant as the smartest person alive, and many historians and musicologists alike classify Mozart to be the smartest human to have ever lived.
IQ alone doesn't make anyone an intellectual, just like holding a worldrecord in sprinting doesn't make you an intellectual.
__________________
I am always open for feedback on my posts. That might focused on the argument at hand or on my writing style. If your feedback would go offtopic feel free to send me a Personal Message.

Reality is fragile
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #13 (permalink)  
Old 04-29-2008, 04:54 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,011
Sam988 is an unknown quantity at this point
Default
I think that Raymond Kurzweil should be in the list...
__________________
All that matters is results.

Turbo mode now! Full schedule. Bye bye.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #14 (permalink)  
Old 04-30-2008, 12:07 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 356
schola is on a distinguished road
Default
They forgot Steve Pavlina, Maddox, and Tucker Max.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #15 (permalink)  
Old 04-30-2008, 03:43 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,014
escapee is on a distinguished road
Default
No Ron Paul on the list ? Ohhh...

Amazon.com: The Revolution: A Manifesto: Ron Paul: Books
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #16 (permalink)  
Old 04-30-2008, 04:06 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 142
Ak47 is on a distinguished road
Default
the biggest problem i see with this is that the smartest people are not always the most influential. people confuse the two quite often.

someone can be brilliant, but that doesn't mean anyone will listen to them. if nobody listens to them, how would they know to vote for them?
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #17 (permalink)  
Old 04-30-2008, 12:31 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 108
YourSelf is on a distinguished road
Default
Me... in 200 years.

:-P

Well, I think the Economists mentioned by Brutha have some pretty good ideas.

If we talk about intellectuals, i.e. people with ideas and not hard intelligence, I'd say there are few other people I actually know about in-depth.
From the list of Prospect, I have heard about some of them but never studied all of them thoroughly (except Krugman and Yunus, but that's because I study economics... and Krugman also writes textbooks for students).

In any case, I voted Ramachandran, Daniel Dennett and Jeffrey D. Sachs, since in my perception they have the potential to change many things in the world, even if at abstract level.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #18 (permalink)  
Old 05-01-2008, 12:09 AM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 356
schola is on a distinguished road
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by escapee View Post
I just got my copy today.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #19 (permalink)  
Old 05-01-2008, 12:37 AM
Moderator
  
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: San Rafael, CA
Posts: 2,746
Dan.Linehan is on a distinguished road
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by schola View Post
I just got my copy today.
I'm ordering it this week too. It's an Amazon Bestseller!
__________________

Best,
Dan Linehan
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #20 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008, 06:01 AM
Junior Member
  
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4
catfightreport is on a distinguished road
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by escapee View Post
My thoughts exactly.

Go Ron Paul!
__________________
The Catfight Report - News and Reviews relating to the world of female wrestling, fighting, and combat.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #21 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008, 02:36 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Byram, NJ
Posts: 188
Barcs is on a distinguished road
Send a message via AIM to Barcs
Default
Wait, Ben Stein's not on the list????


Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #22 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008, 08:16 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 356
schola is on a distinguished road
Default
To be serious, I'm sorry to say I'm not familiar with many of the people on that list. I guess I better get readin'.

Then again, these people have Al Gore on the list, so maybe I'm not missing much.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #23 (permalink)  
Old 05-12-2008, 07:53 AM
Stu Stu is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
Posts: 160
Stu is on a distinguished road
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam988 View Post
I think that Raymond Kurzweil should be in the list...
Ya I'm kind of surprised he's not up there too. In the same vein I think Aubrey de Grey should have been included as well, with a beard like his you pretty much have to be a genius.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #24 (permalink)  
Old 05-12-2008, 09:48 AM
Junior Member
  
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2
vapurmillie is on a distinguished road
Default
Myself. Who cares?
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #25 (permalink)  
Old 05-12-2008, 03:55 PM
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 356
schola is on a distinguished road
Default
I wonder whether compiling a list like this really has any merit. The website says the only criteria is that they have to be alive and have the distinction of "influencing debate" globally.

Seems to me like most people will just vote for those whose ideas they agree with. Is someone like Al Gore really "influencing debate" when he agrees with the general consensus about global warming? There is not really much of a mainstream debate about that issue is there?

Or take Richard Dawkins, who I like for his theories on evolution rather than his recent crusade against religion. I think he is up there more for the latter than the former. Is there really a serious debate going on about creationism vs evolution?

Most people who stir up debate on an issue aren't popular for that exact reason. It's only when we later on come to agree with their ideals that we consider them to be a great intellectual.
Last edited by schola : 05-12-2008 at 03:59 PM.