Who was the most influential person of the last hundred years?

He didn't do anything, the war was already predetermined and decided by an assembly of countries. He had no influence, he was a tool. A hammer can strike somebody down, but we take to court the one who hit the person, the one with the capacity of action.
He had no capacity to determine if there is a war or not.

Can't compare that with what Hitler did or even more - Albert Einstein.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

I disagree, Avatar. He did a lot. He was the spark that set off the First World War. Using your logic no one really does anything since if they didn't do it someone else would come along and do it anyway. That is a form of determinism I simply don't buy. The actions of individuals can have far reaching consequences. Sometimes the actions of a single person can change the world for good or for ill.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

I'm not disputing that actions of single persons can change the world, not at all, Jesus, Buddha, Hitler and Stalin are prime examples, I'm just saying that in this particular case G.Princip did nothing to cause WW1, others decided that his actions are a good enough excuse to start WW1.
There is no contribution from him in the world history any more than from any other political killer.

In other words - I disagree with you.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

TV, and the people who desides what's on it. They dictate what's important and what not.

 

I haven't switched on the tv since 1998. New record next year!

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

 

Are you participating in some sort of experiment?

 

Nope. A personal record.

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

 

I respect your right to disagree with me, however your disagreement in no way changes my mind on Gavrilo Princip being the single person who most influenced the course of the world within the past hundred years.

 

Who is the person that invented the birth control pill. That's pretty damn influential.

 

Who was the guy who broke the four minute mile? Ahh.. May 6, 1954. Roger Bannister. Got the general public off their butts and on to the streets to shed pounds and get in shape. Didn't he start or at least influence the fitness revolution?

 

1 of 2

Gene Roddenberry, (August 19, 1921 - October 24, 1991) For what he did. for the fans he has turned into science buffs. For the influence he has had on Technology. Also for the Ideal of a United World Federation based on the betterment of mankind. Not to mention the shear WONDER he created in in the minds of those that follow his works and the imprint of :WHAT IF: he left on those he enticed with the lurer of adventures in space.

OR

Walter Richard Rudolf Hess, (April 26, 1894 – August 17, 1987) for what he failed to do. Hess, who attempted to forge a peace agreement between Germany and the UK. He was authorized by Hitler to negotiate the return of all European countries for a peace between the two countries and the UK's support to the Reich. Had he succeeded in this the world as we know it would be fundamentally different.

 

LOL Hess wanted to do that so Germany wouldn't want a two front war(Most of German high command didn't want to fight GB and commonwealth). He knew intimately of plans to invade Russia. Basically more Russians and Russian Jews/gypsies/Slavs and undesirables would have died. Possibly the world would have fallen to totalitarianism. Thankfully there was no chance of peace with Britain at that time.

 

So true.

YES<YES> regardless of the reason had it went as planed how different would the world be today?

 

That's a whole 'nother thread for sure.

Btw the most influential person in last 100 years was Neitzsche.

A short list of people (admittedly and notable) influenced by him:

Carl Jung
Sigmund Freud
Ayn Rand
Hitler via Alfred Baeumler(incorrectly interpreting Will to Power)
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Heidegger
Jack London
Jean-Paul Sartre
H. L. Mencken
Bernard Williams
Jim Morrison

His ideas often prevade our culture today - taken for granted and considered older than he(some are in other ways). Like music that no one remember the author of - "Traditional".

Some of these:

The goal of life should be to find yourself. True maturity means discovering or creating an identity for yourself.

The highest virtue is to be true to yourself (consider these song titles from a generation ago: "I Gotta Be Me," "I Did It My Way").

When you fall ill, your body is trying to tell you something; listen to the wisdom of your body.

People who hate their bodies or are in tension with them need to learn how to accept and integrate their physical selves with their minds instead of seeing them as in tension with each other. The mind and body make up a single whole.

Athletes, musicians, etc. especially need to become so attuned to their bodies that their skills proceed spontaneously from the knowledge stored in their muscles and are not frustrated by an excess of conscious rational thought. (The influence of Zen Buddhism on this sort of thinking is also very strong.)

Sexuality is not the opposite of virtue, but a natural gift that needs to be developed and integrated into a healthy, rounded life.

Many people suffer from impaired self-esteem; they need to work on being proud of themselves.

Knowledge and strength are greater virtues than humility and submission.

Overcoming feelings of guilt is an important step to mental health.

You can't love someone else if you don't love yourself.

Life is short; experience it as intensely as you can or it is wasted.

People's values are shaped by the cultures they live in; as society changes we need changed values.

Challenge yourself; don't live passively.

 

He's got my vote too.

 

I would think Philo Farnsworth would kick his butt in this competition. No Philo, No Gene.

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

Personally I'd lean to Mao Zedong or Lenin (for his influence on Mao). If I had to pick someone related to science, I'd probably split it between Crick and Watson for the DNA molecule.

 

scientists

 

The inventor of pornography!

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

 

Id go for Bill Shockley (with John Bardeen, Walter Brattain) - for inventing the transistor.
Widely recognised as the most most important invention of the 20th century, it would be hard to imagine what life would be like without it now that it is incorporated into pretty much every electric device in circulation.