The Best Human Who Ever Lived

by **threewood14** » Thu May 06, 2004 12:11 am

I read about a philosophy who tried figuring out who the best human being was. He went through Budha, Jeus Christ, and some more figures like that. But in the end, he came to the conclusion that Sir Isaac Newton was the best human who ever lived. Would you agree? If not, who would you say?

by **klewlis** » Thu May 06, 2004 12:23 am

Aside from Jesus (since I'm a Christian so the answer is obvious), I'm not sure that it's possible or even reasonable to try to decide who the "best" human being was. What do you mean by "best"? How are they being rated? How can we possibly compare so many different people and come up with one "best"?

This has been irking me lately because the CBC is trying to get people to vote for the "greatest canadian ever". How do you judge such a thing?

I firmly believe that the value of a person lies far less in how famous they are or even what they have accomplished in society, and far more in what kind of person they are and how they have influenced the *people* around them.

by **threewood14** » Thu May 06, 2004 1:05 am

Good question. I got this from a course I'm taking and I forget which philosopher said this.

For this thread, I would think the best human being would have to be the kindest, most logical, the smartest, and the most honest. How about we try that. Will it work?

by **klewlis** » Thu May 06, 2004 2:49 am

I'm sure there have been many, many people who would fit your criteria to more or less equal degrees, and they've gone silently into the grave without the larger world's knowledge.

So we must be only talking about famous people... even so I would have a hard time picking one. You can't quantify human goodness. How would you measure it?

by **threewood14** » Thu May 06, 2004 6:43 pm

I'm not sure, I'll have to think about that one. I started this thread based on that guys ideas.

by **KohlyKohl** » Mon May 10, 2004 11:55 pm

The answer is so obvious, its Bill Clinton.

by **threewood14** » Mon May 10, 2004 11:56 pm

If I had to chose, it would be Jesus by far.

by **Kasper** » Tue May 11, 2004 12:02 am

We should first make an index of what we consider 'great'.

- Conquering lots of countries? (Caesar/Napoleon)
- Writing beautiful poetry? (Virgil/Byron)
- Liberating countries? (Ghandi)
- scientific discoveries? (Einstein)

What is 'great'?

by **mingshey** » Tue May 11, 2004 7:37 am

Definitely, Alexi Zorba.(Or his archetypical model in reallity)

by **threewood14** » Wed May 12, 2004 9:53 pm

Who was he?

by **Muasumirtapretsev** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:33 pm

What do you mean by "Best" human of all times. what qualities are he talking about.. Jesus suffered for all man.. Sir Issac Newton made discoveries.. 2 vastly different things.

by **threewood14** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:54 pm

ill have to reaserch more about this guy and then post something. it was some philosopher back near the english revolution.

by **mingshey** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:27 pm

threewood14 wrote:Who was he?

Zorba? He's the main character of Nikos Kazantzakis' "Zorba, the Greek(Vios kai Politeia tou Alexis Zorbas)".

by **Emma_85** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:55 pm

No, I don't think Newton was the best guy ever, obviously Johnny is!
Many people less famous were probably better than Newton, in fact it's hard to look for the best person, you probably wouldn't have heard their name ever.

by **Episcopus** » Wed May 19, 2004 8:14 pm

How did Jesus save all man when there are people being beheaded with saws.

Try to read Jesus by A.N. Wilson. Amazing book.

by **threewood14** » Thu May 20, 2004 8:45 pm

He saved them from sin. Those who believe in Him will go to Heaven. Those who do not believe will endure the same punishment He went through...

by **Democritus** » Fri May 21, 2004 2:30 am

threewood14 wrote:I read about a philosophy who tried figuring out who the best human being was. He went through Budha, Jeus Christ, and some more figures like that. But in the end, he came to the conclusion that Sir Isaac Newton was the best human who ever lived. Would you agree? If not, who would you say?

I don't agree, I think it's a stretch to think of anybody as "the best human being who ever lived."

However, I will say that I am a fan of Isaac Newton. His scientific and mathematical accomplishments were truly impressive.

It's interesting to observe which people are singled out for admiration. When I was in school learning Latin, it baffled me that Julius Caesar was so revered. In my opinion he played a singularly negative role in Roman history. I always thought of him as a kind of destroyer.

by **Emma_85** » Fri May 21, 2004 4:18 pm

It's interesting to observe which people are singled out for admiration. When I was in school learning Latin, it baffled me that Julius Caesar was so revered. In my opinion he played a singularly negative role in Roman history. I always thought of him as a kind of destroyer.

Well he was a destroyer, can't think of anybody who liked/likes him

.

While Newton's accomplishments were impressive, I think if he hadn't lived, sooner or later someone would have come up with the same results. So the people who actually made it possible to for him research and think about the world are the better people, even if they didn't come up with the clever solutions. I hope you know what I mean...

by **blue** » Fri May 21, 2004 9:07 pm

^ well there was that feud between newton and leibniz over calculus, eh?

i think newton was up there, but probably not nearly as high as leibniz, spinoza, and (of course) heraclitus. i'm inclined to think leibniz ought to be at the top...because in addition to being amazingly intelligent, it was said that he never spoke ill of anyone. i like that.

by **threewood14** » Sat May 22, 2004 4:18 pm

Hold on. I'm not saying that Newton was the best human who ever lived. It was another philosopher who said that. He claimed that because Newton explained cause and effect. The greatest person who ever lived that I think would definitly be Jesus Christ.

And yes, this is about people who we know about. Mostly famous people.

by **Nora** » Sun May 23, 2004 12:02 pm

Hello! I'm a new person at this site. :idea:

I'm not an expert in English, forgive me for my grammatical mistakes.
In my opinion it's unfair to choose only one person to be 'the best'. There are a lot of people in the world who do excellent things, but they never get famous for some reason. People who we know as 'the best at something' were at the good place at the good time. What's more, we hardly ever speak about the situation and enviroment in which they lived, and about those people who helped and motivated their work- like relatives, friends or collegues.
What's more: we do know the effect of Newton (I appreciate him very much), but we do not know the reason for his work. Who knows??

by **Muasumirtapretsev** » Mon May 24, 2004 3:28 pm

threewood14 wrote:And yes, this is about people who we know about. Mostly famous people.

HOld on here. Do they have to be famous. I mean woudn't your mother or your father be the best. Does this person have to do something famous or special to deserve such a title? What about looking in your own family. Wouldn't it be better to pick someone who most influences your life today than pick someone who you knew nothing about?

by **threewood14** » Mon May 24, 2004 6:55 pm

Note that I said mostly famous people. I think most of the people that people would say is the best human who ever lived would be famous. That is my opinoin though. However, I did not say just famous people. Its probably going to be well known individuals.

by **Muasumirtapretsev** » Mon May 24, 2004 7:41 pm

I am sure that there are people who are not famous that have made a profound difference in other peoples lives. In fact it could even be an animal like a cat!! How many people do you know that would go into a burning building to save their pet over someone like Issac Newton!

by **Democritus** » Mon May 24, 2004 8:29 pm

threewood14 wrote:Hold on. I'm not saying that Newton was the best human who ever lived. It was another philosopher who said that. He claimed that because Newton explained cause and effect.

Oh yes, that was clear from your original post. I was disagreeing with the philosopher you quoted, not with you.

BTW does this award include a cash prize??

Does the winner go on to compete against other species in the "Best Mammal" competition?

Just some humor. Nyuck nyuck.

by **threewood14** » Mon May 24, 2004 8:50 pm

In fact it could even be an animal like a cat!!

Look at the title of this thread...sorry. But no pets allowed...

by **xon** » Mon May 24, 2004 10:24 pm

the greatest human who ever lived. we have to think in terms of ENTIRE history. for example, the greatest human who every lived might be the human who invented (or realized) language, or invented fire, boat, or maybe the wheel.

humanity might be no-where without some of the earliest discoveries...

In modern times, I have to suggest Edison

by **copain** » Mon May 31, 2004 8:38 pm

Should we seek the "best human" among those who made great technical or scientific discoveries ?
I think the best human has to be human - in his behaviour - and therfore he is rather among those who take care for the poor or ill people !
What about Mother Teresia or Albert Schweizer ?

by **klewlis** » Mon May 31, 2004 10:20 pm

I do think Mother Teresa would rate up there, assuming that "best" has a moral, humanitarian emphasis.

Nevertheless, there have been many other people in the history of the world who have also devoted their lives to helping people, but may not have been as famous (largely due to our modern media, I'm sure).

by **PeterD** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 4:12 am

Hi,

One of the "best" to have ever lived was the 18th century amorous adventurer Giacomo Casonova.

I am serious. While the men were off plundering and killing for fame, fortune and glory (has anything really changed?), Casanova celebrated life and rejoiced in its simple pleasures. Moreover, he unselfishly provided comfort and love to all the lonely women.

Casanova has my vote.

As for Mother Theresa (sorry, Klewlis, she is not the Saint she is made out to be), the world is a better place without her!

PeterD

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