Who will be remembered in 500 years?

[Free Northman Reborn]

I guess the title of the thread speaks for itself. Who from our current era will be most famous among humans 500 or even 1000 years from now?  I have some clear personal views on that, but it would be interesting to get your thoughts on this question.

Somehow I think that a lot of the people we see as very significant now will fade into insignificance in the longer course of history. Sport super stars like Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Michael Schumacher etc will likely disappear into obscurity as the sports they competed in change and perhaps totally disappear over the course of centuries.

Similarly, politicians such as Trump, Obama, Kennedy etc. will be no different to the names we learn of in history books now among a long list of politicians and statesmen from a distant era. Other than knowing their names  from history books, can the average person today really distinguish between Henry the V, VI, or VII'th? Or between various tsars of Russia or kings of France?

Same with most of the major industrial leaders of our time. Will Jeff Bezos be remembered just because he figured out a way to make online shopping profitable? Or Bill Gates for developing some ancient computer operating system?

To set the scene, I will give a couple of suggestions as to my view on the topic. Other than the obvious names of Hitler and Stalin who will rank in a similar historical category as Napoleon and Genghis Khan, I would suggest Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong and Elon Musk as names that will be fairly commonly known 500+ years in the future - if Elon succeeds in establishing the first colony on Mars, as is his life goal.

Anyway, interested in the thoughts of others.

[polishgenius]

6 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

 if Elon succeeds in establishing the first colony on Mars

lol

[Larry of the Lawn]

I'm going with Bjork

[BigFatCoward]

Bin Laden. 

[Ran]

If you suppose Kennedy will just be a name despite his having been the driving force for putting man on the moon, then I have to say Musk is unlikely to be remembered for putting man on Mars; it will be the first person who steps on Mars that will get the Armstrong-type fame.

And sure, Armstrong and Einstein are sure bets for being remembered. Gates, I'd say, will be among the great industrialists and philanthropists whose foundations live on long after they're gone, so you've got Gates and Carnegie, Rockefeller and Ford, Morgan, etc. Will Bezos be remembered the same way? Maybe. Jobs? Hmm, less certain of that, but maybe.

I find it hard to think of what entertainer will be famed centuries from now. Kids today don't know who Jimmy Stewart is, or Laurence Olivier. Artistic fame, at least when it comes to stage and screen, is fickle indeed. It can be powerful, but it doesn't seem to last more than a handful of generations.

Likelier that a game developer or creator will be more remembered 500 years from now -- a Shigeru Miyamoto or a Gabe Newell -- than many of the athletes one can think of. It's nice to think Muhammed Ali's name will be remembered five centuries from now, but then will there be boxing five centuries from now? I'm thinking the tide against some of the more brutal sports will slowly chip away until they're no longer popular.

 

 

[A wilding]

12 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Other than knowing their names  from history books, can the average person today really distinguish between Henry the V, VI, or VII'th?

I may be a little more historically minded than the average British person, but I can distinguish between them straight away (Agincourt; weak king at the start of the Wars of the Roses; Bosworth and the Star Chamber). I suspect remembrance of historical political figures will depend on which cultures survive.

[Luzifer's right hand]

Only conspiracy nut AIs will believe in so called humans. Sane AIs will dismiss such claims.

[lessthanluke]

8 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

I'm going with Bjork

Who? 

[Rippounet]

At this point in time the most reasonable prediction is that no one will be remembered.

Assuming that the survivors manage to rebuild civilization after the Great Collapse, they will not be inclined to remember anyone from the Dark Ages. Most people will see humans from such times as primitive selfish creatures best forgotten. Only a few historians will be interested in digging up that kind of knowledge, to the bemusement of others.

I could see an exception for scientists such as Einstein, assuming scientific theories are still associated with individual researchers. But in all likelihood individualism will be frowned upon, because it will be blamed for the Great Collapse.
The worship of individuals that is so common today is unlikely to survive the next centuries.

[Spockydog]

Putin.

[Jen'ari]

1 hour ago, larrytheimp said:

I'm going with Bjork

Not a bad call to be fair!.

In all seriousness I think some musicians are a good shout, we still listen to and appreciate music written 300-400 years ago now.

Mozart,Handel,Beethoven etc works are still well known and appreciated worldwide, perhaps it will be the same in the future with more contemporary works.

[Free Northman Reborn]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

If you suppose Kennedy will just be a name despite his having been the driving force for putting man on the moon, then I have to say Musk is unlikely to be remembered for putting man on Mars; it will be the first person who steps on Mars that will get the Armstrong-type fame.

Perhaps an analogy is a situation where one day a man comes along and builds the first ships that can take humans to America, puts people on those ships, lands the first humans ever in America, and then starts sending thousands of ships to build the first colony in America as well. And upon his death, leaves his fortune to fund the future growth of the colony. 

Only we are talking about Mars instead of America. And as a result of this leap in technology, the colonization of the solar system becomes possible, leading to humanity spreading beyond earth permanently. It is a fundamental fork in the path for the human race.

That is quite a different prospect to just being the president who inspired a country to dedicate its national resources to put a few flags and footprints on the moon, before losing that ability for 50 years.

I focus on Mars and the future of humanity as a multi-planetary civilization, because the Tesla stuff is inconsequential by comparison.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

The only correct answer is Batman.

Jokes aside, many of the people listed above will be remembered. The question is will they be remembered for who they actually were or the mythology that was created after their time? Just look at Ronald Reagan as an example. He hasn't even been dead for 30 years, but many people believe him to be something he wasn't at all. That pro-abortion, tax raising Iranian ally really has gotten to skate in the Republican party for years now.

[Free Northman Reborn]

Just now, Tywin et al. said:

The only correct answer is Batman.

Jokes aside, many of the people listed above will be remembered. The question is will they be remembered for who they actually were or the mythology that was created after their time? Just look at Ronald Reagan as an example. He hasn't even been dead for 30 years, but many people believe him to be something he wasn't at all. That pro-abortion, tax raising Iranian ally really has gotten to skate in the Republican party. 

Yeah. The interesting thing is the records and electronic media that will be available for future generations to refer back  to. Interviews, podcasts, articles, documentaries, email records, press conferences etc. So much material that we don't have about figures in our distant past. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

6 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Yeah. The interesting thing is the records and electronic media that will be available for future generations to refer back  to. Interviews, podcasts, articles, documentaries, email records, press conferences etc. So much material that we don't have about figures in our distant past. 

But in the same light, much of that can be manipulated. I'm actually rather troubled by the rise of, shit, I can't remember the term, but the ability to fake people's voices and their appearance on video. 

[Free Northman Reborn]

2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

But in the same light, much of that can be manipulated. I'm actually rather troubled by the rise of, shit, I can't remember the term, but the ability to fake people's voices and their appearance on video. 

Deepfake (have I got that right?)

[DMC]

Me.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

9 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Deepfake (have I got that right?)

Thanks, I believe that's it. 

The problems that will create in the short term are going to be huge. Imagine the impact it will have over time, not even on a 500 year scale, but a 5 year one.
 

7 minutes ago, DMC said:

Me.

You're the Batman?

[DMC]

8 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

You're the Batman?

 

[Rippounet]

SMBC does mention Musk today btw...

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/program-2