We have so many candidates that I’m starting it of with a sudden death elimination round. Vote for your favorite, and the five with the most votes will make it to the final round.
The poll will be open until Tuesday noon EST. You do not need to be Unitarian to vote. You may only vote once, and you may not change your vote.
Feel free to leave comments on behalf of your pick. There’s also a link at the bottom of the poll to add your own nominee.
{democracy:3}
I voted for Matt Groenig because I think there is a distinction between who has had the most influence, and who has the most influence. For example, Tim Berners-Lee has changed the world- he has had a great influence. But has HAS no influence, as no one knows who he is, and if he called a press conference few would show up and the general public would not listen. If by influence we mean the ability to influence the opinions of many people by what they say or do, I think they would rank in order: Matt Groenig, Robert Fulghum, Kurt Vonnegut, Keith Olbermann, all the rest.
I guess everyone will have a different definition of “influential.” For me, it means an ability to shape the way people think and act. So, for instance, if the person in question published a book today, A. how likely is that people would read it and B. how likely is that the ideas presented would influence the way other people think and act.
Based on that, I went with Fulghum. I think having “By the author of ‘All I Really Need to Know…'” on the cover would take care of A. And as for B, obviously it’s been awhile, but he has a demonstrated ability to insinuate his ideas into the larger culture. I recall having at least two classrooms as a child, in two diferent states, where a poster of “All I Really Need to Know…” was hanging on the classroom wall.
Doesn’t necessarily have to be a book, by the way. Could be a movie, speech, or cartoon even. Maybe I would change my mind after reading “The Tao of Homer.” :)
Doh! ;-)
[…] (Vote here.) […]
Interesting discussion on influence. Another thing to take into consideration is who the person has influence over. A teen heartthrob could be a household name and have lots of sway with millions of tweenies looking for direction on dressing, dating or styling their hair. But a person whose name unknown among the masses, but whose opinion is highly valued by a small number of people who create government policies or medical science breakthroughs is – in my opinion – going to have a more meaningful impact on society in the long-term.
I’m influential? Where?
I voted for Olbermann specifically because I feel like he’s the up and coming voice who represents what we stand for as Unitarians.
He is a charismatic speaker and full of fire. I find that very inspiring. I have always been a sucker for a things of that nature.
Vonnegut has been an obvious inspiration to me. However, I find that most of his works are books that very smart people in their teenage years read. I don’t want that to sound like a backhanded compliment. There’s NOTHING wrong with that…and I was so glad that “Slaughterhouse Five” and “Cat’s Cradle” were around for me to read when I was seventeen-years-old. But it seems as though Kurt’s best days were long ago and far away.
Gotta love Mr. Groening too, although The Simpsons have totally turned to shit the last few seasons. But in its prime, no one could beat The Simpsons.
I almost voted for Fulgum because his books are what inspired me to become a Unitarian. I like him for sentimental reasons, but I want him to come out with a new, decent book, dammit!
I will be honest and admit that some of you have out-UU-geeked me, because I don’t know enough about some of the people on this list.
*embarrased look*
*types in wikipedia now*
For all others who have posted–I respect the inherent worth and dignity of every assumption. :p
I had the same question about what influential means. Decided to go with “If these people decided to try to persuade people to believe something, who would be most successful?” Based on that, I went with Olbermann, given that he’s currently hosting a news program with international viewership. But yeah, there’s influence and there’s influence, and a case could be made for most of these candidates.