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[Morgrim7]

Jesus
Maximilien Robespierre
Paul Morphy

[ehunt]

Alexander Grothendieck
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton

[ipofanes]

Jesus (That would solve that argument)

Would it?

If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?

Sorry for German, but I didn't bother to search Bertolt Brecht in English translation:

Einer fragte Herrn K., ob es einen Gott gäbe.

Herr K. sagte: "Ich rate dir, nachzudenken, ob dein Verhalten je nach der Antwort auf diese Frage sich ändern würde.
Würde es sich nicht ändern, dann können wir die Frage fallen lassen.

Würde es sich ändern, dann kann ich dir wenigstens noch so weit behilflich sein, dass ich dir sage, du hast dich schon entschieden:


Du brauchst einen Gott."

[Ozle]

Jesus (That would solve that argument)

Would it?

If you came back with the knowledge one way or another, would it change anything?

Sorry for German, but I didn't bother to search Bertolt Brecht in English translation:

Einer fragte Herrn K., ob es einen Gott gäbe.

Herr K. sagte: "Ich rate dir, nachzudenken, ob dein Verhalten je nach der Antwort auf diese Frage sich ändern würde.
Würde es sich nicht ändern, dann können wir die Frage fallen lassen.

Würde es sich ändern, dann kann ich dir wenigstens noch so weit behilflich sein, dass ich dir sage, du hast dich schon entschieden:


Du brauchst einen Gott."

.....Ja?

[ipofanes]

Roughly:

To the question if there's a god.

It's decisive if your behaviour would be any different given there was if there wasn't. If not, the question is a moot point. If yes, then we can say at least that much: You need a god.

[jotheonah]

Let's do a range:

Henry David Thoreau
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Tina Fey

[SwitchedFromStarcraft]

Let's do a range:

Henry David Thoreau
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Tina Fey

An our second female makes a list.  Ms. Fey, have you met Ms. Stein?

[jotheonah]

Alexander Grothendieck
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton

Aww, what's Hillary, chopped liver?

[() | (_) ^/]

.

[SwitchedFromStarcraft]

Alexander Grothendieck
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton

Aww, what's Hillary, chopped liver?

Man, I'm so tempted....

It was an honest omission.  I was actually pleased she was on someone's list.  I debated long and hard about whether to put her husband on mine.

[ipofanes]

Alexander Grothendieck
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton

Aww, what's Hillary, chopped liver?

Man, I'm so tempted....

It was an honest omission.  I was actually pleased she was on someone's list.  I debated long and hard about whether to put her husband on mine.

I think it'd require your husband being ok with it.

[cayvie]

the way i imagined this scenario working, btw, was that i'd get to go back in time and visit the dead ones while they were still alive, not that they'd be ripped into the present, or some sort of inter-temporal messaging system

so i guess, what i'm saying is, i also wouldn't mind getting to briefly be a tourist in early 20th century paris or yuan dynasty china. if that's not part of the scenario, i may rethink.

otoh, completely divorcing historical personages from their historical settings seems difficult.

[SwitchedFromStarcraft]

the way i imagined this scenario working, btw, was that i'd get to go back in time and visit the dead ones while they were still alive, not that they'd be ripped into the present, or some sort of inter-temporal messaging system

so i guess, what i'm saying is, i also wouldn't mind getting to briefly be a tourist in early 20th century paris or yuan dynasty china. if that's not part of the scenario, i may rethink.

otoh, completely divorcing historical personages from their historical settings seems difficult.

Rethink away.  These type of thoughts, as you wrestle with the decisions, are exactly why I posted the thread. I wondered to what extent non-Americans would be listed by Americans (and the reverse), whether personal vs. professional interests would hold sway, etc.

It's also interesting to wonder about the effects that mood or circumstance have on the decisions.  My first two choices were relatively easy, but my third one (Groucho) had to compete with Confucius, Go Seigen, and Warren Buffett.  I'm sure the space I was in at the time influenced the choice, and today I'd lean towards Buffett.

[jotheonah]

There were important people in history who weren't American? I don't know. That doesn't really jive with what I learned in school.

[Davio]

There were important people in history who weren't American? I don't know. That doesn't really jive with what I learned in school.

Considering American history is only ~500 years old (when you start with Columbus) and you've surely been thought the world is 6000 years old, there are 5500 non-American years missing!

[jotheonah]

Vast amounts of sarcasm in that post, if it wasn't obvious.

[Cuzz]

I always wanted to meet someone from the early 90's and explain the term "Governor Schwarzenegger" to them.

[Ozle]

I always wanted to meet someone from the early 90's and explain the term "Governor Schwarzenegger" to them.

The Governator!

[SwitchedFromStarcraft]

I always wanted to meet someone from the early 90's and explain the term "Governor Schwarzenegger" to them.

You should be prepared for the Christopher Lloyd line in BTTF:  "Ronald Reagan Arnold Schwarzenegger the ACTOR?"

[Davio]

Vast amounts of sarcasm in that post, if it wasn't obvious.

It was, in mine too.

[jotheonah]

Oh, missed the joke there. No, blissfully my education did not include hilarious mis-estimates of the earth's age. Not quite that far past the Mason-Dixon.

[ipofanes]

Oh, missed the joke there. No, blissfully my education did not include hilarious mis-estimates of the earth's age. Not quite that far past the Mason-Dixon.

Plus the ruling out of any pre-columbian American as a possible target for a meetup. I loved how he manages to roll that many European stereotypes about the U. S. of A. into such a short post.

[jotheonah]

There were important people in history who weren't American? I don't know. That doesn't really jive with what I learned in school.

Considering American history is only ~500 years old (when you start with Columbus) and you've surely been thought the world is 6000 years old, there are 5500 non-American years missing!

(response I should have said:) Oh, you mean the Bible?