It's useful to be skeptical of Great Men Theory narratives but I think that you are taking it too far. Yes, we absolutely should avoid overstating the impact of

It's useful to be skeptical of Great Men Theory narratives but I think that you are taking it too far. Yes, we absolutely should avoid overstating the impact of "great men". It usually leads to wrong conclusions & a hyperfocus on the role of individuals as of they were independent of the society around them. Yet, completely dismissing the possibility of remarkable individuals having very oversized impacts on humanity and history is also extremely diminutive. Yes, they were usually also lucky to be at the right place, at the right time and being surrounded by the right people. But their individual actions/efforts were still crucial catalysts to actually put all of those things together. It would be just as weird to dismiss the impact of individuals in history or science as it is to focus too much on them