CDZ The 100 Most Influential Americans

[Foxfyre]

It's not a great list. It's extremely subjective and I have no idea what criteria they are using.

Obviously there are the infamous listed among the famous, but why Sarah Palin but not Joseph McCarthy?

Why Ronald Reagan and not John F. Kennedy?

Why George W. Bush and not Harry S. Truman?

Why any of the artists listed but not famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady?

Where's George Gershwin? James Cagney? Shirley Temple? Bob Hope? Cole Porter? Miles Davis?

OMG. Sarah Palin is on the list? This list is seriously, seriously flawed.
And not JFK? Incredible.

Whatever else Palin in, she is a flash in the pan. She will have no long term or historical significance or influence in American society or culture. She's a temporary joke.

Again referring to the criteria used for selection that I just posted, I can guarantee you that millions more know many more facts about Sarah Palin than know many facts about JFK. She is almost certainly immediately recognizable to everybody. JFK, perhaps not so much. Sarah is brought up in political discussions, referred to, or used as illustration again and again and again. JFK is remembered by most as mostly a controversy over who shot him. And, as was explained, the algorithmic method used for selection allowed for and factored in the fact that some people have faded in significance due to the passage of time.

So I think they are saying that whether one's view of Sarah Palin is positive, negative, or neutral, she is more important to and affects more people than does JFK.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Influential?

Now that I think of it, I have to admit I wouldn't mind being a little more like Secretariat in at least one regard.

 

[Esmeralda]

It's not a great list. It's extremely subjective and I have no idea what criteria they are using.

Obviously there are the infamous listed among the famous, but why Sarah Palin but not Joseph McCarthy?

Why Ronald Reagan and not John F. Kennedy?

Why George W. Bush and not Harry S. Truman?

Why any of the artists listed but not famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady?

Where's George Gershwin? James Cagney? Shirley Temple? Bob Hope? Cole Porter? Miles Davis?

OMG. Sarah Palin is on the list? This list is seriously, seriously flawed.
And not JFK? Incredible.

Whatever else Palin in, she is a flash in the pan. She will have no long term or historical significance or influence in American society or culture. She's a temporary joke.

Again referring to the criteria used for selection that I just posted, I can guarantee you that millions more know many more facts about Sarah Palin than know many facts about JFK. She is almost certainly immediately recognizable to everybody. JFK, perhaps not so much. Sarah is brought up in political discussions, referred to, or used as illustration again and again and again. JFK is remembered by most as mostly a controversy over who shot him. And, as was explained, the algorithmic method used for selection allowed for and factored in the fact that some people have faded in significance due to the passage of time.

So I think they are saying that whether one's view of Sarah Palin is positive, negative, or neutral, she is more important to and affects more people than does JFK.

Absolute nonsense. I disagree with every single word. Notoriety is what Palin has, that and only that. JFK is remembered for far, far more than his assination. And he is instantly recognized by all but those who are mindless dopes.

 

[Foxfyre]

It's not a great list. It's extremely subjective and I have no idea what criteria they are using.

Obviously there are the infamous listed among the famous, but why Sarah Palin but not Joseph McCarthy?

Why Ronald Reagan and not John F. Kennedy?

Why George W. Bush and not Harry S. Truman?

Why any of the artists listed but not famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady?

Where's George Gershwin? James Cagney? Shirley Temple? Bob Hope? Cole Porter? Miles Davis?

OMG. Sarah Palin is on the list? This list is seriously, seriously flawed.
And not JFK? Incredible.

Whatever else Palin in, she is a flash in the pan. She will have no long term or historical significance or influence in American society or culture. She's a temporary joke.

Again referring to the criteria used for selection that I just posted, I can guarantee you that millions more know many more facts about Sarah Palin than know many facts about JFK. She is almost certainly immediately recognizable to everybody. JFK, perhaps not so much. Sarah is brought up in political discussions, referred to, or used as illustration again and again and again. JFK is remembered by most as mostly a controversy over who shot him. And, as was explained, the algorithmic method used for selection allowed for and factored in the fact that some people have faded in significance due to the passage of time.

So I think they are saying that whether one's view of Sarah Palin is positive, negative, or neutral, she is more important to and affects more people than does JFK.

Absolute nonsense. I disagree with every single word. Notoriety is what Palin has, that and only that. JFK is remembered for far, far more than his assination. And he is instantly recognized by all but those who are mindless dopes.

Perhaps so. But some of the man-on-the-street impromptu interviews I've seen suggest otherwise. A whole bunch of the younger set don't recognize such figures as Kennedy or Nixon or FDR or Teddy Roosevelt or current figures such as Pelosi and Reid. But every single one of them recognized Sarah. The same folks couldn't identify a lot of historic figures, past or present, when given facts about them. But every one identified Sarah via the information provided. Whatever you think of her politically or personally, she has made quite an impression on the American scene. I'm pretty sure Oprah was included on the list for the same reason. Who doesn't know who Oprah Winfrey is?

But I'm not look for a fight of any kind here. I'm enjoying having a civil discussion with folks who find the topic interesting. The whole purpose of the Smithsonian article and the names chosen I believe was to spark interest and perhaps generate a bit of research.

 

[Treeshepherd]

My friend's kids were on a console playing Tiger Woods golf, where they could go into the virtual pro shop and buy a +1 wristband of accuracy (or something to that effect).

That's when it dawned on me how huge of an influence Gary Gygax was. He invented pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons, which radically influenced every facet of fantasy movies and literature. His system became the foundation of all future gaming engines.

Gary Gygax. Maybe not in the top 100, but close.

 

[Disir]

It's not a great list. It's extremely subjective and I have no idea what criteria they are using.

Obviously there are the infamous listed among the famous, but why Sarah Palin but not Joseph McCarthy?

Why Ronald Reagan and not John F. Kennedy?

Why George W. Bush and not Harry S. Truman?

Why any of the artists listed but not famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady?

Where's George Gershwin? James Cagney? Shirley Temple? Bob Hope? Cole Porter? Miles Davis?

OMG. Sarah Palin is on the list? This list is seriously, seriously flawed.
And not JFK? Incredible.

Whatever else Palin in, she is a flash in the pan. She will have no long term or historical significance or influence in American society or culture. She's a temporary joke.

Again referring to the criteria used for selection that I just posted, I can guarantee you that millions more know many more facts about Sarah Palin than know many facts about JFK. She is almost certainly immediately recognizable to everybody. JFK, perhaps not so much. Sarah is brought up in political discussions, referred to, or used as illustration again and again and again. JFK is remembered by most as mostly a controversy over who shot him. And, as was explained, the algorithmic method used for selection allowed for and factored in the fact that some people have faded in significance due to the passage of time.

So I think they are saying that whether one's view of Sarah Palin is positive, negative, or neutral, she is more important to and affects more people than does JFK.

Absolute nonsense. I disagree with every single word. Notoriety is what Palin has, that and only that. JFK is remembered for far, far more than his assination. And he is instantly recognized by all but those who are mindless dopes.

Perhaps so. But some of the man-on-the-street impromptu interviews I've seen suggest otherwise. A whole bunch of the younger set don't recognize such figures as Kennedy or Nixon or FDR or Teddy Roosevelt or current figures such as Pelosi and Reid. But every single one of them recognized Sarah. The same folks couldn't identify a lot of historic figures, past or present, when given facts about them. But every one identified Sarah via the information provided. Whatever you think of her politically or personally, she has made quite an impression on the American scene. I'm pretty sure Oprah was included on the list for the same reason. Who doesn't know who Oprah Winfrey is?

But I'm not look for a fight of any kind here. I'm enjoying having a civil discussion with folks who find the topic interesting. The whole purpose of the Smithsonian article and the names chosen I believe was to spark interest and perhaps generate a bit of research.

I AM GLAD YOU DID! AND DON'T YOU DARE FORGET IT!

 

[Foxfyre]

My friend's kids were on a console playing Tiger Woods golf, where they could go into the virtual pro shop and buy a +1 wristband of accuracy (or something to that effect).

That's when it dawned on me how huge of an influence Gary Gygax was. He invented pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons, which radically influenced every facet of fantasy movies and literature. His system became the foundation of all future gaming engines.

Gary Gygax. Maybe not in the top 100, but close.

And probably not a name that is on the tip of most people's tongues. That's where the research might come in to help us understand why this name or that name was selected. Some of them we might have a pretty one-sided image of, or no opinion about them at all, but there is a lot more to them.

 

[Foxfyre]

But the folks don't need to be famous necessarily to have factored into being significant to the American culture or way of life. I didn't have a clue, for instance, who Frederick Law Olmsted was. But the list prompted me to look him up. He had a profound effect on American concepts of outdoor landscaping, design of national parks, etc. He was integral in creating what Central Park in NYC is today. Who knew?

Charles Manson, on the other hand, didn't accomplish anything all that memorable and doesn't represent anything other than the worst in America, but he is mentioned and referred to in many different contexts and has been for decades now. And who doesn't know who he is? He is significant only because he is famous and a symbol of America's worst. Possibly OJ Simpson deserves a place on the roster for the same reason?

 

[Synthaholic]

Post edited for CDZ violations - no insulting or putting down members in CDZ.

 

[Synthaholic]

Billy Sunday and Father Coughlin should be in the religious list

 

[Treeshepherd]

I can't believe that so many idiots in this thread don't know how to trim their replies to not include the entire list from the OP. I swear, half of USMB membership are retards.

The ever-cheerful Synthaholic. I'm not guilty in this thread, but I'm still a novice on this iPhone. My boss practically forced this thing on me and now I'm addicted. Damn u Steve Jobs ( on the list ).

Anyway, if you happen to be tech-savvy, it just means you're a dorky nerd. It doesn't make u smart.

 

[Foxfyre]

We should rewrite it and send it in.

My list would have left off a lot of names the Smithsonian included and I would have included some names they didn't. So yeah, it would be fun to rewrite the list, but I think it might take us a very long time to come to an agreement about who should be on it and who can be left off.

 

[Foxfyre]

I can't believe that so many idiots in this thread don't know how to trim their replies to not include the entire list from the OP. I swear, half of USMB membership are retards.

The ever-cheerful Synthaholic. I'm not guilty in this thread, but I'm still a novice on this iPhone. My boss practically forced this thing on me and now I'm addicted. Damn u Steve Jobs ( on the list ).

Anyway, if you happen to be tech-savvy, it just means you're a dorky nerd. It doesn't make u smart.

Well smarter than me perhaps. But the feature that collapses the nested quotes removes one annoying aspect of them. But among those significant things definitely is this kind of internet environment: chat rooms, message boards, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, et al. What major business or even churches for that matter don't have a website these days? That was one of the biggest changes in American culture I've seen in my lifetime. So Bill Gates and Steve Jobs definitely were a factor in that and deserved to be on the list.

 

[Disir]

I've never heard of Gary Gygax. And you know, that's a problem.


I did know about Olmstead. I came across him twice. He firmly believed that landscaping was an art and that beauty would alter people.

 

[Disir]

We should rewrite it and send it in.

My list would have left off a lot of names the Smithsonian included and I would have included some names they didn't. So yeah, it would be fun to rewrite the list, but I think it might take us a very long time to come to an agreement about who should be on it and who can be left off.

It might be fun.

 

[Foxfyre]

I've never heard of Gary Gygax. And you know, that's a problem.


I did know about Olmstead. I came across him twice. He firmly believed that landscaping was an art and that beauty would alter people.

I did know about Gygax only because I did a presentation on Dungeons & Dragons and other popular games awhile back, but that was pretty much a fluke in the education arena. Multi-player gaming is also a new thing in American culture and has completely changed the way we think about games.

 

[Synthaholic]

The ever-cheerful Synthaholic.

 

[jasonnfree]

Didn't see the great agnostic Colonel Bob Ingersoll on the list. One of the most influential speakers of the late 19th century. He packed em in with speeches sometimes lasting hours.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

How the hell is Sam Walton and Ray Kroc not on that list? Invalid.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

I think Dorthea Lange would have been a nice addition.
The History Place - Dorothea Lange Photo Gallery Migrant Farm Families

I don't know how they left off Harriet Tubman either.