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Ask HN: Greatest Living Thinkers Today

2 points by paraschopra 18y ago

michael_dorfman 18y ago
Am I the only one who finds the notion of (for example) Seth Godin on a list of "Greatest Living Thinkers" to be terrifying? And would it be to much to ask to see, maybe, a philosopher or mathematician or two listed?
- antiform 18y ago
  What I find scarier (or more interesting) is that if all I read were Hacker News, I would have a list that would be exactly the same as the author's. Perhaps a better question would be what do all these people have in common, other than being successful, accomplished males with reputations for being irreverent?
unalone 18y ago
I wouldn't pretend to know. I know the people I consider to be the best in their respective fields, but I would never pretend that that equates to "thinking" because frankly, "thinking" is all-too-often a bullshit phrase that means nothing. If I had to name some people I thought were really making a mark on the world (and my list is biased immensely towards artists), that list would include: * David Lynch, who I think deserves to be on the list for Eraserhead alone; * Mark Z Danielewski, one of the very few writers I know who manages both to be fascinating, deep, experimental, and a good read; * Steve Jobs, who has done more for the high-end consumer market than anybody else I know and who has seemingly unfailing instincts; * Nobuo Uematsu, who is easily my favorite modern composer and who manages to write unique yet powerfully thematic pieces consistently; and * Philip Glass, who is an absolute master of his style of composition. But I wouldn't say that these people are necessarily the greatest thinkers today. They're just the ones whose work fascinates me, the ones who I feel are innovating the most honestly within their field.
clueless 18y ago
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/who-is-the-greatest-modern-day-thinker/ http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/who-is-the-...
deleted 18y ago
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tbrooks 18y ago
Tim Keller is pretty high on my list. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ

2 points by paraschopra 18y ago

Am I the only one who finds the notion of (for example) Seth Godin on a list of "Greatest Living Thinkers" to be terrifying? And would it be to much to ask to see, maybe, a philosopher or mathematician or two listed?

antiform 18y ago
What I find scarier (or more interesting) is that if all I read were Hacker News, I would have a list that would be exactly the same as the author's. Perhaps a better question would be what do all these people have in common, other than being successful, accomplished males with reputations for being irreverent?

unalone 18y ago

I wouldn't pretend to know. I know the people I consider to be the best in their respective fields, but I would never pretend that that equates to "thinking" because frankly, "thinking" is all-too-often a bullshit phrase that means nothing. If I had to name some people I thought were really making a mark on the world (and my list is biased immensely towards artists), that list would include: * David Lynch, who I think deserves to be on the list for Eraserhead alone; * Mark Z Danielewski, one of the very few writers I know who manages both to be fascinating, deep, experimental, and a good read; * Steve Jobs, who has done more for the high-end consumer market than anybody else I know and who has seemingly unfailing instincts; * Nobuo Uematsu, who is easily my favorite modern composer and who manages to write unique yet powerfully thematic pieces consistently; and * Philip Glass, who is an absolute master of his style of composition. But I wouldn't say that these people are necessarily the greatest thinkers today. They're just the ones whose work fascinates me, the ones who I feel are innovating the most honestly within their field.

clueless 18y ago

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/who-is-the-greatest-modern-day-thinker/ http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/who-is-the-...

deleted 18y ago

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tbrooks 18y ago

Tim Keller is pretty high on my list. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ