Who will be remembered in 500 years?

[polishgenius]

6 hours ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

 Not really. For example, I don't think I ever heard of him until you mentioned him (if I did, I forgot) and I bet as much as you want than 99,9% of the people outside cricket playing countries haven't either. Jordan is very famous in the entire world.

 

Yeah Bradman was much better at his sport than Jordan was at his but he isn't better known. People who aren't sports fans know who Jordan is. Only cricket fans and a few impressed by big stats like myself know who Bradman was.

That said I can't imagine any sportsman lasting that long in the memory except for historical wonks looking them up on ancienthistorytube. With the possible exception of Muhamad Ali.
 

18 hours ago, Khaleesi did nothing wrong said:

 

Businessmen like Jeff Bozo and Bill Gates are completely out of the question, I think. Their innovations, while currently profitable, are quite incremental and small compared to the huge, flashy types of discoveries that are remembered throughout the centuries. And in 500 years from now, whatever products they offer will have been replaced by more advanced solutions many, many times over, and thus lack any contemporary relevance. It would be like people today remembering some guy who built slightly better windmills during the 15th century or something. 

Bezos and Gates might be remembered in a similar vein to the likes of George Hearst, as a historical figure, but they won't be household or colloquial names. Musk might get some of the Edison treatment because people are as gullible now as they were then, but then Edison wasn't 500 years ago and who knows if we will remember him in 400. 

Walt Disney might last.

But ultimately it's very difficult to say because like people have said both the way we record things now and the way things are changing are totally different from 500 years ago or 2000 years ago to now.

[A wilding]

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

Yeah Bradman was much better at his sport than Jordan was at his but he isn't better known. People who aren't sports fans know who Jordan is. Only cricket fans and a few impressed by big stats like myself know who Bradman was.

Just had a straw poll here (UK): 75% never heard of Jordan, 25% vaguely knew the name but thought he was a US film star.

Though Bradman fared little better; 50% knew who he was (both cricket fans), 50% never heard of him.

I doubt any sports stars will be remembered. How many people could name famous Roman gladiators?

[ljkeane]

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

Yeah Bradman was much better at his sport than Jordan was at his but he isn't better known. People who aren't sports fans know who Jordan is. Only cricket fans and a few impressed by big stats like myself know who Bradman was.

Cricket is unusually stats orientated as sports go though which means players from the past retain a level of significance you don't see in most sports. Baseball's probably the only similar sport I can think of.

There's a very good chance Bradman's got the best test batting average anyone's ever going to have so if cricket's still around in a similar format in 500 years (the big question mark) he'll probably retain some significance. Jordan's very much a product of his times and I doubt he'll be a particularly notable figure to people who don't actually remember him playing in a few decades let alone centuries.

[Heartofice]

I doubt many if any sports, media or music stars will be well known in 500 years. Right now I guess most people will have heard of Shakespeare and Mozart but that would be about the extent of their knowledge. Both of those seem to have taken over a collective imagination and have been spectacularly influential, becoming symbolic almost.

I can’t see that happening now, especially when trends move so fast and what was popular yesterday is forgotten today. It’s hard enough to remain relevant next week never mind in 500 years.

Major political figures might end up with some lasting name; but I’d guess only those who started or ended wars. Trump is incredibly famous now but I’d see him as a trivia answer in a pub quiz in 100 years time like most presidents.

[maarsen]

1 hour ago, A wilding said:

Just had a straw poll here (UK): 75% never heard of Jordan, 25% vaguely knew the name but thought he was a US film star.

Though Bradman fared little better; 50% knew who he was (both cricket fans), 50% never heard of him.

I doubt any sports stars will be remembered. How many people could name famous Roman gladiators?

Spartacus. Ha I win. 

[A wilding]

Michael Jordan's path is clear then. All he needs to do is to lead an armed insurrection against President Trump and get himself heroically killed, and then his name will ring down the ages.

[Maltaran]

1 hour ago, ljkeane said:

There's a very good chance Bradman's got the best test batting average anyone's ever going to have so if cricket's still around in a similar format in 500 years (the big question mark) he'll probably retain some significance. Jordan's very much a product of his times and I doubt he'll be a particularly notable figure to people who don't actually remember him playing in a few decades let alone centuries.

That was my thinking - with most sports stars, once their playing days are out of living memory people will forget about them, but Bradman is one of the few who will be remembered for longer.

[Erik of Hazelfield]

The question shouldn't really be who's remembered, because no one is remembered longer than a generation. I do remember Michael Jordan, but I don't remember Isaac Newton - I was taught about him. So to answer the question, we need to ask ourselves: what will be in the school books of the future? Who will be so important that future kids will be forced to learn about them?

I don't see that many people now who could reach that status. J.K. Rowling was a good suggestion, because books don't lose popularity as quickly as movies. I can see kids reading Harry Potter 500 years from now. Trump will fade into obscurity as the scandal president, a curiosity. Hillary could have been remembered as the first female U.S. president. I think whoever succeeds with that will have their 500 year fame done. Obama might get an honorary mention for the same reason - being the first of something is always a good way to get into history books.

Some freak stuff might happen. What if no one, in 500 years, beats Usain Bolt's 100 m world record? Then he'd be a legend. That's the only way I see that a sports star can still be relevant that far into the future.

Giving your name to a company works too. Walt Disney, Henry Ford and perhaps even Louis Vuitton will be recognized names as long as their brand is popular.
Not sure if any of those will be around 500 years from now, but Disney seems most likely of those.

If certain religions are still alive by then, names like Bob Marley and Haile Selassie are candidates. L Ron Hubbard? I hope not...

 

 

 

[Jo498]

2 hours ago, maarsen said:

Spartacus. Ha I win. 

Milo of Kroton. (the most famous wrestler of ancient Greece with many wins in different games, not only the Olympics; I did not have to look him up, but I did look up Koroibos of Elis as the first recorded Olympic winner from 776 BC) This goes back to the distinction made further above: Some historian will know the name vs. the moderately educated public will know the name. (The latter is still somewhat true for Spartacus.)

[Jo498]

It's probably misleading to take ca. 1500 AD as a reference point. Because we did not have major breakdowns in "Western" culture since then and the late 15th and 16th centuries were fairly momentous times with the "discovery" of the Americas, Printing, Reformation, Renaissance etc. all going in the same epoch. So even if historically not well versed, most people have heard of Columbus, Luther, Galilei etc. We don't know if the next 500 years will be more like e.g. 300-600 AD the western parts of the Roman Empire (breakdown) or more like the Tang Dynasty in China (very stable for about 300 years), probably neither. I don't really expect a big collapse, neither AI takeover etc., more probably a slow decline with humanity somehow bumbling and trudging on, but nobody knows.

[maarsen]

1 hour ago, Erik of Hazelfield said:

The question shouldn't really be who's remembered, because no one is remembered longer than a generation. I do remember Michael Jordan, but I don't remember Isaac Newton - I was taught about him. So to answer the question, we need to ask ourselves: what will be in the school books of the future? Who will be so important that future kids will be forced to learn about them?

I don't see that many people now who could reach that status. J.K. Rowling was a good suggestion, because books don't lose popularity as quickly as movies. I can see kids reading Harry Potter 500 years from now. Trump will fade into obscurity as the scandal president, a curiosity. Hillary could have been remembered as the first female U.S. president. I think whoever succeeds with that will have their 500 year fame done. Obama might get an honorary mention for the same reason - being the first of something is always a good way to get into history books.

Some freak stuff might happen. What if no one, in 500 years, beats Usain Bolt's 100 m world record? Then he'd be a legend. That's the only way I see that a sports star can still be relevant that far into the future.

Giving your name to a company works too. Walt Disney, Henry Ford and perhaps even Louis Vuitton will be recognized names as long as their brand is popular.
Not sure if any of those will be around 500 years from now, but Disney seems most likely of those.

If certain religions are still alive by then, names like Bob Marley and Haile Selassie are candidates. L Ron Hubbard? I hope not...

 

 

 

Authors rarely have their books remembered beyond their lifetime, no matter how popular while living. Go to Project Gutenberg and look up writers who were very popular during their time and who are completely forgotten now. G.A. Henty seems to have been the JK Rowling of the 19th century, but even I had never read him as a child and I was going through 2 or 3 books a day when i was but a lad. Who even reads Jack London any more. Tolkein I give a chance to be remembered because a huge amount of his popularity was after his death. To be remembered you not only have to be popular but able to speak to generations yet unborn. Shakespeare certainly did.

The best way is to be a mathematician and find a really neat proof. That worked for Pythagoras.

[Ormond]

2 hours ago, maarsen said:

Spartacus. Ha I win. 

That's cute. But of course although people remember that Spartacus was a gladiator, it is not because of any of his accomplishments in the gladitorial arena that we remember him.

Athletes being remembered will depend on whether or not their sport is still being played and in the news. IF baseball is still active 500 years from now, the baseball fans then will probably still recognize the name Babe Ruth. But who knows if baseball will still have fans 500 years from now?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

54 minutes ago, Ormond said:

That's cute. But of course although people remember that Spartacus was a gladiator, it is not because of any of his accomplishments in the gladitorial arena that we remember him.

Athletes being remembered will depend on whether or not their sport is still being played and in the news. IF baseball is still active 500 years from now, the baseball fans then will probably still recognize the name Babe Ruth. But who knows if baseball will still have fans 500 years from now?

Now here's how history gets really fun.

Was Babe Ruth black, or at least had black ancestry? 

[JGP]

1000 years from now we'd be fortunate if the remnants of humanity are capable of reading.

500? Maaaaaaaaaybe.

[Winterfell is Burning]

6 hours ago, A wilding said:

Just had a straw poll here (UK): 75% never heard of Jordan, 25% vaguely knew the name but thought he was a US film star.

Though Bradman fared little better; 50% knew who he was (both cricket fans), 50% never heard of him.

I doubt any sports stars will be remembered. How many people could name famous Roman gladiators?

Besides the fact your poll has no scientic basis (obviously), the UK is a cricket nation, so it hardly counts.

And that's a horrible comparison- gladiators were mostly slaves and their names weren't recorded much, if at all. There was also no live transmission to the entire world of the events in the Colosseum. Plus, they ended with Christianity taking over, while many of the world sports will still be played and possibly will still be popular.

[Zorral]

Nobody human.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Nobody human.

Alien invader! 

[Fez]

4 hours ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

And that's a horrible comparison- gladiators were mostly slaves and their names weren't recorded much, if at all. 

Actually, the biggest name gladiators were incredibly famous in their day. They made product endorsements, had action figures (i.e. clay toys in their likeness), graffiti paintings, etc. And the ones that historians still know the names of, like Spiculus and Carpophorus, were likely well remembered by most Romans long after their deaths. They'd have to have been, for anyone to still know their names today. Of course, most of us have never heard of them, and that's likely the same fate awaiting Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan.

But on the other hand, if any of the major sports today are still being played in 500 years, maybe not. I imagine a lot of serious fans of horse racing have heard of the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerley Turk, and they all lived over 300 years ago. Though likely only known of the trivia about them, nothing more. Likewise, if Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Don Bradman, Roger Federer, Cy Young, etc. still hold any major records in their sports, maybe fans of those sports will still remember them because of that.

[dornishpen]

On 5/24/2020 at 3:18 PM, The Marquis de Leech said:

 

Hitler's name will be remembered, I think... but (rather creepily), I don't think he'll still be the go-to figure for Pure Evil. Five centuries dulls memories, and when even Genghis Khan has his apologists, he'll become just another Historical Figure. Like Napolean.

There are Hitler apologists now, there have been Hitler apologists continuously since he obtained power and people first realized how evil he was. There are apologists for every evil historical figure and every genocide, democide and other crimes against humanity.

[DireWolfSpirit]

Imo Einstein, Newton, and most definitely DARWIN.

In the Arts perhaps Picasso, Rembrandt, Guagin, Frida and Riviera.

Rockefeller, Ford, Gates and Buffet families have a chance if their foundations survive.

The only pop stars that stand a chance may be Prince and someone like a Elton John whose hits endured through decades. Prince supposedly has a voluminous collection of musical creation that has never even been released and he was a pretty prolific creator.

The odds seem low for musical icons to be remembered that far into future though.

If there's still a music coined "Jazz" we would have to know who Louie Armstrong was wouldn't we? Again not even sure about that one.

Out of these people above, I'm most confident that Darwin will still be talked about in schools.

I cannot envisage a World where Evolution is not a part of basic discourse, where it could dissapear from educational norms. ( not ignoring fringe fundamentalist groups that have disparaged the theory )

Basically as long as humans have knowledge of Evolution, they will know Darwin's name.

Okay where do I collect my prize?