Who is the smartest person alive today?

Dagenais

Originally posted by FZ+
... and he pays twice the standard rate for flattery!!

[:D]

EDIT: Actually, scratch that... Are you Bill Gates?

No, but I live in Seattle.

And it is hard to believe what he has accomplished.

[t)]

I wish I had Bill Gate's bank account.

As of right now, nobody would want to be him. He's probably in Redmond frantically trying to solve the Source Code leak.

*Mr. Robin Parsons*

If you look at smartest in the sense of "knowledgability" then you find many many specialized people in the world, many of them the top in their field, hence "the smartest person in the world" in that category, or class, right? but a good generalist, ceding to all the specialists, will in the end, be able to make connections between the specialities, that the specialist's themselves, cannot, or do not, make, because of their 'speciality'...more in the direction, if it holds in general view, after presentation the work of genius....that becomes 'seen' as the smartest, but it is an unfair title, to begin with, because of it's 'diversablitiy'...

So without evidence of the work of a Genius, we are left with a notion that is fun but unfulfilling, or perhaps too easily fillable on individual biases.....

The_Professional

Originally posted by Mr. Robin Parsons
Then they are in 'self denial' and that isn't very smart, now is it?

Humble perhaps

Thallium

My mom and my astronomer fellow are two of the smartest I know of.

Mentat

Originally posted by Monique
I think arrogant behaviour and lack of discussion w/ other people is not smart either (coming forth of thinking to be the smartest of all).

I think a truly intelligent person admits the faults right along with the virtues. Thus, the most intelligent person would know that they were intelligent, but would never brag.

btw, I'm with chroot, Ed Witten is definitely the most intelligent person I know of (and Hawking does kind of suck, IMHO).

Dagenais

Originally posted by Mentat
I think a truly intelligent person admits the faults right along with the virtues. Thus, the most intelligent person would know that they were intelligent, but would never brag.

btw, I'm with chroot, Ed Witten is definitely the most intelligent person I know of (and Hawking does kind of suck, IMHO).

Hmmm...and why not William Gates?

Just wondering.

jimmy p

A lot of Physicists seem to be mentioned, what about other scientists? Are there no great chemists or biologists? If i had to vote i would say Bill Gates as well i suppose, because of above reasons AND all the hackers put viruses everywhere, but he deals with them.

Gates 1, Nerds/Geeks/Hackers 0

one_raven

Originally posted by jammieg
Not simply meant to butter anyone's biscuit but I would guess the smartest person in the world is oneself, if they have the desire and will and perserverance to change for the better, because no one can tell another what they have to do or must not or can or can't do but they can suggest the ways and it's up to oneself to climb or descend or be lazy, but sitting around talking about it leaves one to percieve the world as much as the complexity of their own mind percieves the world, and so one can learn a great deal from the savants as much as from the idiots because being wise should be the aim if they choose and accepting and understanding one's own idiocy is required to further that aim, the capacity to make change is more important than knowing any one thing for absolute certainty, because change is evolution and everyone has the capacity to change a little or a lot of what they percieve that they can't, and learn from it, often I think people think they are stuck in life and they have given up but I doubt it, I think it's easier sometimes to give up and let others do the work and everyone has to rest from time to time but that doesn't mean people can't go back and try again, it's possible that this world is a reflection of everyone's mind so if one can figure out how to free up someone elses mind a bit they also learn to free up their own a bit, strange but true it seems.

That is a LOT of words to have only one period! [:D]

Why do so many people seem to think that self-confidence is such an abhorable trait?
If I am an intelligent person, would it be wrong to say, "I am an intelligent person."?
Granted, unwarranted self-confidence and cockienss is annoying to say the very least, but to be proud of who you are and your personal achievements should not be frowned upon at all.
Why is abject humility praised?

I think it is most likely rooted in jealousy of those that recognize that the speaker is being truthful, and have no valid criticizms to make.

MacTech

define smartest? Steve is no doubt a brilliant man with the highest iq, but is iq really the determinate that you want to define smart! if you were to consider the question of the smartest man ever, you probably would say albert right? but with the grounds of only having iq as a determinate then albert would in most views not be the smartest man ever. (link)

Thallium

Originally posted by MacTech
define smartest? Steve is no doubt a brilliant man with the highest iq, but is iq really the determinate that you want to define smart! if you were to consider the question of the smartest man ever, you probably would say albert right? but with the grounds of only having iq as a determinate then albert would in most views not be the smartest man ever. (link)

A very good point. Howver, I would appreciate somone with an IQ of 190 or 200(if that has ever been measured) as much as one with 160.

The_Professional

How come no one mentioned Richard Feynman, he's smart.

On a different note, people have told me I'm a smartass [:D]

LeBrad

Originally posted by The_Professional
How come no one mentioned Richard Feynman, he's smart.

Because he died in 1988.

Personally, I like Stephen Wolfram.

Dagenais

Originally posted by Thallium
A very good point. Howver, I would appreciate somone with an IQ of 190 or 200(if that has ever been measured) as much as one with 160.

Aren't IQ tests biased?

What if a person isn't good at taking timed tests?

*Mr. Robin Parsons*

What's the difference between being 'seen' as Smart and being 'seen' as a Genius?

The_Professional

Originally posted by LeBrad
Because he died in 1988.

Personally, I like Stephen Wolfram.

He's still alive...in a parallel universe that is

Nereid

Gro Brundtland
George Soros
Warren Buffett
Alan Greenspan
Linus Pauling
Andrew Wiles

... there's a human dimension to 'smart', to do with ability to succeed within the circumstances of your life. In this regard, the 'smartest' people today are almost certainly unknown to us. Ditto historically, but we can note a few:
- Hildegard von Bingen
- Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi
- Srinivasa Aiyangar Ramanujan

KingNothing

Originally posted by The_Professional
Sports: Michael Jordan, the guy's a totally awesome baseball player especially when he hits those home runs. He's just amazing.

Am I the first person to catch this? MJ played basketball;).

I think the smartest person alive is..whatever chroot said...because hes always right.

Someday I hope I am as knowledgeable as all of you people.

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Thallium	My mom and my astronomer fellow are two of the smartest I know of.

jimmy p Recognitions: Gold Member	A lot of Physicists seem to be mentioned, what about other scientists? Are there no great chemists or biologists? If i had to vote i would say Bill Gates as well i suppose, because of above reasons AND all the hackers put viruses everywhere, but he deals with them. Gates 1, Nerds/Geeks/Hackers 0

MacTech	define smartest? Steve is no doubt a brilliant man with the highest iq, but is iq really the determinate that you want to define smart! if you were to consider the question of the smartest man ever, you probably would say albert right? but with the grounds of only having iq as a determinate then albert would in most views not be the smartest man ever. (link)

The_Professional	How come no one mentioned Richard Feynman, he's smart. On a different note, people have told me I'm a smartass [:D]

Mr. Robin Parsons	What's the difference between being 'seen' as Smart and being 'seen' as a Genius?