In your opinion, who is/was the greatest human being of all time?

[Kelethor]

Winston Churchill, that man was awesome.

That guy always shows up in lists of greatest people, however:
[ul]
[li]He decribed Mussolini as a "very great man."[/li]
[li]He advocated the use of chemical weapons to displace "primitive tribes."[/li]
[li]He said of the Japanese, "we will wipe the out, every last one of the, men women and children, there will not be a single one left on the planet."[/li]
[li]He authorised 226 members of the Nazi Security Battallions to fight alongside the British Army against the Greek Resistance which had just liberated Greece from Nazi occupation.[/li]
[li]He allowed Italian fascist war criminal Pietro Badoglio to escape charges.[/li]
[/ul]

He also kept Britain, a war torn and ravaged country, one that was being bombed daily by By the Nazi Luftwaffe together. this kept the last Allied European stronghold, Britain, Safe from Nazi hands. was he dangerous, ruthless, and un-kind individual? Of course. and yet, the dangerous and the Ruthless make the best (debatable, of course) Rulers, it would seem.

I call it Prince Bhelen Syndrome.

OT: The Axe Body spray guy.

"Hello Ladies"

 

[JLML]

Well, obviously it's "that person"

But if you want me to say someone who has done something important to anyone except me, I say Sun Tzu (as in the guy who wrote The Art of War) since his work, even though it's about 2600 years old, still is one of the greatest works of military tactics. Hell, the US military has it as a book for "education of personnel in the art of war." The fact that a book that's over 2000 years old is still being considered one of the greatest works of it's kind TODAY is enough to place Sun Tzu high on the list of great humans. Shame people don't mention him that often.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Okay, Internet nerdiness aside, Nikola Tesla.

 

[knight of zendikar]

It's simple really!
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t39/Adalariea/Gary_motherfucking_oak_demotivator.jpg

But truthfully Da Vinci

Thats wierd in my pokemon games he was know and Asshat, cockbag, and sometimes twatface.

Well id say Tesla, Davincci,And I gota add Teddy Roosevelt for teaching the world that if you got a big dick things will work out. "Speak sofetley, but cary a big stick"

 

[Mantonio]

Lots of people saying Jesus.

Jesus? You know that most people here are atheist, right?

So? Jeez, even if you don't believe that he was the son of God, Jesus was full of nothing but good advice!

 

[Gigaguy64]

IMO Jesus Christ.
Died for all the sins of mankind out of compassion and forgiveness.

Was he a human being?

If so, and if he existed (and really was Gods son) then him. :/

Otherwise. Newton or Einstein.
One invented calculus, one revolutionized physics without (to my knowledge) any practical experiments.

I believe he was.

But i agree with Newton or Einstein if i didn't believe.
Id hate to think where we would be at today if it weren't for them.

 

[The Rockerfly]

Batman is the greatest human ever

End of all discussion

 

[BoosterGold]

Mahatma Gandhi the man who freed a nation through none violence

What, that peadophile? No joke, look it up.

Look Normaly that for me is a death sentence worthy offense but dude its freaking Gahndi. I think I give a pass if its even true in the first place

 

[Shane the Llama]

The more I consider this question the more people come to mind, so I'll just go off of my gut reactions.
In no order: Jesus, Leonardo da Vinci, Abraham Lincoln.

I am thinking along the lines of overall "prestige", for lack of a better term. All of these people have had tremendous impacts on not just their eras, but history as a whole. All of them were good people, or at least had good ideas.

Many previous posts suggested Gandhi and Winston Churchill, but there are major issues with each. Churchill is mainly celebrated for his role in the defeat of one of the most genocidal maniacs who ever lived, Adolf Hitler. However, as other posters have pointed out, Churchill advocated some brutal methodologies with startling similarities to Hitler's. Primarily, Churchill supported the use of deadly gas to remove native tribes. Hitler may have take this further, but the root of the idea was in Churchill as well. They just happened to be on opposite sides.

As for Gandhi, He disowned his son for asking permission to marry. He also said "I do not consider Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted. He is showing an ability that is amazing and seems to be gaining his victories without much bloodshed." At least he made up for this with his helpful advice for Jews during the Holocaust: "The Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs."

Hopefully I won't be similarly disillusioned about any of the people I picked, although I must admit I don't know too much about Leonardo da Vinci as a person, mainly having learned about his work instead of the man himself.

Honorable Mention: Theodore Roosevelt, Nikola Tesla

Edit: Oh yeah, I completely forgot about Gandhi's pedophilia.

 

[PresidentSteve]

Jesus, Newton, King Gustav the Great, JRR Tolkein and all four members of ABBA.

 

[JaredXE]

Simple, Norman Borlaug. That man has saved more lives than Jesus.

The best humanitarian ever.

 

[SextusMaximus]

You're reading his comment!

...

Or at least you will be if I find the link to it...

Buddha. He had some god damn good theories. Not to mention most Buddhists are awesome. (Remember the Buddhist leader who said video games were good for people. Yeah, awesomesauce).

 

[Jorias]

Without reading through all of these posts (crimsonshrouds is mainly got the right idea in his post of Norman Borlaug) Their are certain criteria that would have rightfully justify how someone becomes the greatest person ever.

some of the posts here are obnoxious nonsensical gibberish (from what i can read). That doesn't go to say that all of the posts on here are like that, many are thought through. But if I were to judge how someone were to become the greatest person to ever live, I would judge on the number people that this person has had a positive impact on.

From my limited knowledge on this particular subject, i would have to pick Norman Borlaug. I see some people voting for Da Vinci. Do these people know that this man worked for warmongers and blood thirsty princes and kings? He sacrificed his dignity and preservation of the human species to work his magic. Yes he may have paved the way for such contraptions as a Tank (used to kill people) or a Helicopter (also used to kill people).

And their isn't a certain by-product to his work, what he invented was used to kill people. If you believe that to be a candidacy for "the greatest person to live" then you are one sick individual.

 

[Dfskelleton]

Jesus. Even if you don't believe in him, there are plenty of facts that prove he existed, and he's had a bigger positive impact on the world than any other man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Ages

I could go on but I'll stop there.

Can we add the fact that much of the world uses the Gregorian Calendar?

The Crusades, Spaish Inquisition, and Dark Ages were brought about by Christian fanatics, not Christians, and I think more good things have come from Christianity.
It's like hating all Muslims for 9/11. It was done by Muslim fanatics, not Muslims.
Not only that, but those all happened about 1000 years ago. Do you think that anyone would do such a thing today?
Honestly, you can think whatever you want, but don't try to smack people who think different.

 

[Corporal Bill]

My prediction for this thread:

Lots of people saying Jesus.

Someone mentions Hitler.

Huge ass discussion about whether Hitler's actions were impressive or not.

Hitler. The prophecy is being fulfilled.

In all seriousness though, Hitler was by far one of the most historically important figures of the past millenium. And I could rant on and on about how great he was, minus the whole little "genocide" thing.

Lol u sound like my old history teacher

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Isaac Newton. To quote Neil deGrasse Tyson when he was asked by Time which scientist would he most like to meet, living or dead: "Isaac Newton. No question, the smartest person ever to walk the face of this earth. . . The most successful scientists in the history of the world are those who pose the right questions. . . Newton, his questions, reached into the soul of the universe and he pulled out insights and wisdom that transformed our understanding of our place in the cosmos"

The quote (transcribed by me) without editing and in context: