Most known person
Matthew Daly
Magnus Lundgren <qhs...@aom.ericsson.se>, if that is your REAL name, said:
>Don't know if this has been discussed before but I would like some
>comments anyway.
>
>Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
>where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
>person would you think most people would answer.
I think you've got to give this one to Jesus. Sure, many people lived
before he appeared on Earth, and vast quantities of the Asian and African
world would be unfamiliar to him, but I don't think that they have a single
person with enough of a bloc to overcome all of Europe and North America
from the Dark Ages forward.
>You can also consider almost the same question but the question you ask
>to everyone is the same as the question you are trying to answer...
>get it? (Hope so anyway...)
In other words, if there were a Common Entries quiz held among everyone who
ever lived, which entry would get the highest score?
>Will the two questions have different answers?
I doubt it, but it's an interesting question. I bet that Confucius's score
would improve, because there would be some number of Jesus supporters who
were concerned about who the people who had never heard of Jesus would have
voted for.
Then again, that's pretty irrational. When you stop to think about the
most famous person in history, you are already taking the diversity of the
Earth's history and population. If you replaced "famous" with
"influential", though, you would have an interesting problem. For
instance, Gutenberg is one of the more influential people in the history of
the past couple centuries, but he would score very low against the millenia
of people who died before he was born.
-Matthew
--
Matthew Daly I feel that if a person has problems communicating
mwd...@kodak.com the very least he can do is to shut up - Tom Lehrer
My opinions are not necessarily those of my employer, of course.
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Magnus Lundgren
Don't know if this has been discussed before but I would like some
comments anyway.
Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
person would you think most people would answer.
You can also consider almost the same question but the question you ask
to everyone is the same as the question you are trying to answer...
get it? (Hope so anyway...)
Will the two questions have different answers?
Magnus
Paul Ehrler
> >Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
> >where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
> >person would you think most people would answer.
>
> before he appeared on Earth, and vast quantities of the Asian and African
> world would be unfamiliar to him, but I don't think that they have a single
> person with enough of a bloc to overcome all of Europe and North America
> from the Dark Ages forward.
I didn't interpret the question to mean asking everybody living or dead
who ever reached the age of 16. It says "all people living on earth."
That tips in heavily in favor of a contemporary person. How about Mao
Tse Tung? Essentially everybody in China, and most elsewhere.
Abigail
Matthew Daly (mwd...@kodak.com) wrote on 1441 September 1993 in
<URL: news:<33f42d5a....@newsserver.rdcs.kodak.com>>:
++ Magnus Lundgren <qhs...@aom.ericsson.se>, if that is your REAL name, said:
++
++
++ >Don't know if this has been discussed before but I would like some
++ >comments anyway.
++ >
++ >Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
++ >where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
++ >person would you think most people would answer.
++
++ I think you've got to give this one to Jesus. Sure, many people lived
++ before he appeared on Earth, and vast quantities of the Asian and African
++ world would be unfamiliar to him, but I don't think that they have a single
++ person with enough of a bloc to overcome all of Europe and North America
++ from the Dark Ages forward.
With the exponential grow of the worlds population, the number of
people not born in this century is relatively small. Jesus might be a
well known person, but mostly in Europe and the America's. Christianity
is far less dominant in Africa and Asia. Jesus would have lots of
competition from Mohammed. But even if Jesus is more famous than
Mohammed, would people *answer* Jesus when asked? I wouldn't be
surprised if Michael Jackson or Madonna got mentioned more often.
Abigail
Matthew T. Russotto
In article <33EEF8...@aom.ericsson.se>,
Magnus Lundgren <qhs...@aom.ericsson.se> wrote:
}Don't know if this has been discussed before but I would like some
}
}Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
I suppose a certain Nazarene carpenter's son is going to come first,
though he'll have stiff competition with a later man with a similar
vocation.
}You can also consider almost the same question but the question you ask
}to everyone is the same as the question you are trying to answer...
}get it? (Hope so anyway...)
}
}Will the two questions have different answers?
Probably. Certain cultures are going to have different ideas of
fame than the world as a whole, and will answer accordingly to "Name
the most famous person ever to have lived" even if they are aware
their ideas of fame are not universal. Explicitly apply the question
to the world as a whole and you change that.
--
Matthew T. Russotto russ...@pond.com
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in pursuit
of justice is no virtue."
Magnus Lundgren
> >comments anyway.
> >
> >Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
> >where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
> >person would you think most people would answer.
>
>
You missed one point. "Living" means now living on earth so you don't
have to take into account the votes of now dead people. This makes it
possible for 20th centuary people to win as well.
And second have Jesus (the man described in the bible, not any person
that might have become Christ later) existed? Many people in Europe and
North America doubts that, so they might therefore vote for someone
else. And who will they give their votes to?
Magnus
Greg Neill
Matthew Daly <mwd...@kodak.com> wrote:
: Magnus Lundgren <qhs...@aom.ericsson.se>, if that is your REAL name, said:
: >Don't know if this has been discussed before but I would like some
: >comments anyway.
: >
: >Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
: >where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
: >person would you think most people would answer.
: I think you've got to give this one to Jesus. Sure, many people lived
: before he appeared on Earth, and vast quantities of the Asian and African
: world would be unfamiliar to him, but I don't think that they have a single
: person with enough of a bloc to overcome all of Europe and North America
: from the Dark Ages forward.
Well, I think the title might go to Buddha rather than Jesus. Consider
that Buddha lived about 480 to 560 B.C., and has had a major following
in two of the most populous countries on the planet, China and India,
ever since. Gotta be billions of people.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Neill, | "Rome wasn't built in a day. So it must have been
HNSX Supercomputers Inc. | built at night."
gne...@sx.nec.com | Basil Rathbone in: "The Black Sleep"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew Daly
Paul Ehrler <PEh...@acm.org>, if that is your REAL name, said:
>Matthew Daly wrote:
>>
>> Magnus Lundgren <qhs...@aom.ericsson.se>, if that is your REAL name, said:
>...
>> >Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
>> >where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
>> >person would you think most people would answer.
>>
>> I think you've got to give this one to Jesus. Sure, many people lived
>> before he appeared on Earth, and vast quantities of the Asian and African
>> world would be unfamiliar to him, but I don't think that they have a single
>> person with enough of a bloc to overcome all of Europe and North America
>> from the Dark Ages forward.
>...
>
>I didn't interpret the question to mean asking everybody living or dead
>who ever reached the age of 16. It says "all people living on earth."
>That tips in heavily in favor of a contemporary person. How about Mao
>Tse Tung? Essentially everybody in China, and most elsewhere.
Why do you think that the Chinese would vote unanimously for Mao? I could
see a lot of them voting for Confucius or Buddha or Lao Tse instead. I
wouldn't be surprised if Mao didn't come in first at all.
Beyond which, if you asked a random Chinaman who the most famous person in
the world was, don't you think that his first suspicion would be to think
of someone outside China? They certainly have 1/5 of the world's
population, but a lot of the remaining 4/5 have had a more common history.
There have been a lot of "locally famous" people like Mao, Gandhi, Hitler,
Churchill, Lincoln, Shaka Zulu, and so on, but I think that people would
(or should) think more globally. So I really don't think that a 20th
century personality would be perceived as being "globally famous" enough to
score well.
Marlon Ben Feld
Even though Jesus, Buddha, and Mao are very famous, I don't think people
would give them as answers. When asked for someone "famous," people tend
to think for celebrities or current political leaders.
Some very likely answers: Michael Jordan, Madonna, Bill Clinton. Madonna
probably isn't as famous as some other people, but she is known for being
famous...
--
Marlon Feld, Chief Editor, GoodSound
Learn more about audio! http://www.goodsound.com/
Hugh Tonks
In article <5sogvk$r...@wanda.vf.pond.com>, Matthew T. Russotto
<URL:mailto:russ...@wanda.vf.pond.com> wrote:
> In article <33EEF8...@aom.ericsson.se>,
> Magnus Lundgren <qhs...@aom.ericsson.se> wrote:
> }comments anyway.
> }
> }where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
> }person would you think most people would answer.
>
> though he'll have stiff competition with a later man with a similar
> vocation.
Pinocchio?
Cheers
Hugh
--
Hugh Tonks, Project Manager, Future Technologies Group
Acorn Computers Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 1223 725 513
Acorn House, 645 Newmarket Road Fax: +44 (0) 1223 725 613
Cambridge, CB5 8PB, United Kingdom WWW: http://www.acorn.com/
Bore, n.: Someone who insists on talking when you want him to listen.
[Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"]
Stan Armstrong
In article <5sokje$icn$1...@calvin.risq.qc.ca>, Greg Neill <ynecgan@NOSPAM.
>
>
>Well, I think the title might go to Buddha rather than Jesus. Consider
>that Buddha lived about 480 to 560 B.C., and has had a major following
>in two of the most populous countries on the planet, China and India,
>ever since. Gotta be billions of people.
>
>
--
Stan Armstrong "a louse I used to know told me that millionaires
and bums taste much the same to him."
archie the cockroach - via don marquis
markph...@theoffice.netspam
If we are to believe what the US media has been telling us it must
clearly be 'Joe Camel.'
Matthew T. Russotto
In article <ant12161...@om103.acorn.co.uk>,
Hugh Tonks <hto...@acorn.com> wrote:
}In article <5sogvk$r...@wanda.vf.pond.com>, Matthew T. Russotto
}<URL:mailto:russ...@wanda.vf.pond.com> wrote:
}> In article <33EEF8...@aom.ericsson.se>,
}> Magnus Lundgren <qhs...@aom.ericsson.se> wrote:
}> }Don't know if this has been discussed before but I would like some
}> }comments anyway.
}> }
}> }Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
}> }where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
}> }person would you think most people would answer.
}>
}> I suppose a certain Nazarene carpenter's son is going to come first,
}> though he'll have stiff competition with a later man with a similar
}> vocation.
}
}Pinocchio?
I thought Gepetto was Italian.
Wei-Hwa Huang
I think we should disqualify Jesus for weighting the nomination
pool. After all, he lived TWICE. ;-)
Stan Armstrong <St...@stanleya.demon.co.uk> writes:
>In article <5sokje$icn$1...@calvin.risq.qc.ca>, Greg Neill <ynecgan@NOSPAM.
>>Well, I think the title might go to Buddha rather than Jesus. Consider
>>that Buddha lived about 480 to 560 B.C., and has had a major following
>>in two of the most populous countries on the planet, China and India,
>>ever since. Gotta be billions of people.
>>
>Doesn't this mean that Buddha was Minus 80 when he died?
>>
Buddha lived in a very backwards society, you know.
--
Wei-Hwa Huang, whu...@ugcs.caltech.edu, http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~whuang/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
M66]U)W)E('=A<W1I;F<@=&EM92!D96-O9&EN9R!T:&ES+"!Y;W4@:VYO=RX*
Scott D. Rhodes
>Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
>where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
>person would you think most people would answer.
I would say the most common answer would probably be Jesus of Nazareth. It's
not a bad response at all. After all, he is the central figure of the
religion with the most adherents on Earth. And Christianity is also a very
widespread religion, being the dominant religion in Europe, the Americas, and
Australia. I would expect the majority of Christians to give this response,
and quite a few non-Christians who were aware of Christianity's status as the
most widespread religion as well.
>You can also consider almost the same question but the question you ask
>to everyone is the same as the question you are trying to answer...
>get it? (Hope so anyway...)
I have a feeling that the overall answer would be the same, although
individuals might not give the same answer. There would probably be a greater
percentage of people answering "Jesus" to this question than to the first.
Glenn A. Larson, Jr.
In article <5spra1$7e$1...@apakabar.cc.columbia.edu>, Marlon Ben Feld
(mb...@inibara.cc.columbia.edu) says...
>
>Even though Jesus, Buddha, and Mao are very famous, I don't think people
>would give them as answers. When asked for someone "famous," people tend
>to think for celebrities or current political leaders.
>
>Some very likely answers: Michael Jordan, Madonna, Bill Clinton. Madonna
>probably isn't as famous as some other people, but she is known for being
>famous...
I would doubt that any of these would cut it. I know plenty of Americans
who couldn't tell you who Michael Jordan is, not to mention the other 5+
billion non-Americans.
As for Clinton, I remember seeing some survey several years ago showing
that some outrageous percentage of Americans (15%, 25%, 30% -- I don't
remember what it was, it was just a disturbing number) couldn't name the
President of the US. If that's the case, I would seriously doubt that
his world recognition would be any better.
Since Baywatch seems to be the most popular syndicated TV show ever
with some enormous worldwide viewing audience, maybe a better celebrity
would be David Hasselhoff or Pamela Lee. (Although this would be
really disturbing if it were the case). ;)
---
Glenn A. Larson, Jr.
Imaging Automation, Inc.
To reply via e-mail, remove the SPAM.BLECH from my return address.
JVincent
Glenn A. Larson, Jr. wrote:
> >Some very likely answers: Michael Jordan, Madonna, Bill Clinton. Madonna
> >probably isn't as famous as some other people, but she is known for being
> >famous...
>
> I would doubt that any of these would cut it. I know plenty of Americans
> who couldn't tell you who Michael Jordan is, not to mention the other 5+
> billion non-Americans.
>
Come on, everybody knows who Michael Jordan is. He's the CEO of
Westinghouse.
> As for Clinton, I remember seeing some survey several years ago showing
> that some outrageous percentage of Americans (15%, 25%, 30% -- I don't
> remember what it was, it was just a disturbing number) couldn't name the
> President of the US. If that's the case, I would seriously doubt that
> his world recognition would be any better.
>
The President? Isn't that William Blythe?
> Since Baywatch seems to be the most popular syndicated TV show ever
> with some enormous worldwide viewing audience, maybe a better celebrity
> would be David Hasselhoff or Pamela Lee. (Although this would be
> really disturbing if it were the case). ;)
>
An interesting comment, especially from someone ("Glenn A. Larson") who
has produced some TV shows himself ("Buck Rodgers", "Battlestar
Galactica"). ;-)
--
[JVincent] Z.I.F. - wiva...@zpf.arg - Puvpntb, Vyyvabvf
"Ab znggre jung lbhe cynaf ner,
gur erfhyg vf nyjnlf n fhecevfr."
Pj Enright
Magnus Lundgren wrote:
>
> Question: If all people living on earth who are 16 years old or older
> where asked: "Name the most famous person ever to have lived?" what
> person would you think most people would answer.
>
Sometimes you must read the question. Too often an answer jumps
to mind before one reads the question. When one is asked a question
one should answer the one who asks. Is this not the point here?
This does not ask what the person asked answered but to whom the
answer was given. So the answer is the asker. Enough already.
Cheers,
Pj Enright
Glenn A. Larson, Jr.
In article <33F611...@net.net>, JVincent (NOS...@net.net) says...
Don't forget "B.J. and the Bear". ;)