Infamous people in human history

by **Stopper** on Sat May 26, 2007 4:20 am

jay_a2j wrote:"Infamous" is someone famous for something bad or negative. ie. Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer, OJ Simpson, Saddam Husein, Leon Lett (for kicking the blocked field goal allowing Miami to win the game ) and so on and so forth. Most of the people/beings listed would not be classified as "infamous".

I don't see why all of them couldn't be described as infamous for their various reasons. I assumed the OP knew what he was doing when he offered those options (although I'd have put Mohammed as an option, not Allah).

chewyman wrote:I said Buddha. Jesus and Hitler are well known, but only really to a Western audience. Their influence outside of that sphere was pretty limited. Buddha's influence spread throughout Asia, which we all know is the most populous continent and I can't imagine many people in Asia not knowing about him. Most of the people in the West are relatively well educated and would therefore also know about him. Africans and South Americans might not, but that's not as substantial a loss as I think Jesus and Hitler have in Asia and Africa.

I agree it's more likely to be a religious figure than any of the secular options, but I'm still undecided as to whether it's likely to be Jesus or Buddha. I realise numbers of followers isn't a very good indicator, because it doesn't mean the central figures of a given religion isn't well-known in any particular area, but Christianity still has overwhelming numbers over Buddhism.

Also, it's arguable that you could say that Jesus is likely to be well-known in Islamic-dominated countries, as he is a figure in that religion, too (although - even though he is mentioned in the Koran - I've no idea how prominent a figure he actually is amongst Muslims.)

by **mr. incrediball** on Sat May 26, 2007 6:28 am

learn to spell buddha, and caesar :roll:

I honestly think hitler had a massive influence around the world... i understand what you're saying about asia, but remember he was allied with tojo, who was a serious threat to the whole of asia, australia AND america.

by **Skittles!** on Sat May 26, 2007 6:57 am

Stopper wrote:Also, it's arguable that you could say that Jesus is likely to be well-known in Islamic-dominated countries, as he is a figure in that religion, too (although - even though he is mentioned in the Koran - I've no idea how prominent a figure he actually is amongst Muslims.)

Jesus was one of a few prophets in Islam, the others being Moses, Abraham, Mohammed, and maybe another.
Mohammed was just the last prophet sent by God/Allah.

by **Guiscard** on Sat May 26, 2007 1:25 pm

I'm thinking of a word that begins with B and rhymes with Hush...

And it aint burning...

(just for pure current infamy)

by **The1exile** on Sat May 26, 2007 2:22 pm

B is for Brutus.

by **Stopper** on Sat May 26, 2007 7:33 pm

Guiscard wrote:I'm thinking of a word that begins with B and rhymes with Hush...

And it aint burning...

(just for pure current infamy)

Unfortunately, Bush doesn't rhyme with Hush, nor with Lush, which would have been poetic.

by **Humous** on Sat May 26, 2007 8:14 pm

Wow.
Speaking of genocidal maniacs, you missed two evident candidates.
Mao and Stalin, maybe?
Seriously, does anyone bother reading Solzhenitsyn?
60 million dead in the Communist gulags. Circa.
Still, hardly suprising coming from a 'Marxist'.
You know Marx believed everyone was fundamentally good, right?
Doesn't seem to apply to the transmogrified theories...
I wonder why?
Because it isn't despotic enough.

by **Stopper** on Sat May 26, 2007 8:23 pm

Humous wrote:Wow.
Speaking of genocidal maniacs, you missed two evident candidates.
Mao and Stalin, maybe?
Seriously, does anyone bother reading Solzhenitsyn?
60 million dead in the Communist gulags. Circa.
Still, hardly suprising coming from a 'Marxist'.
You know Marx believed everyone was fundamentally good, right?
Doesn't seem to apply to the transmogrified theories...
I wonder why?
Because it isn't despotic enough.

Wow.
Who on Earth are you talking to?
Given that your post comes directly after mine, you appear to be accusing me of being a 'Marxist'.
You know, the stuff you're on seems to be good.
Give me some.

by **DAZMCFC** on Sat May 26, 2007 8:56 pm

Pele, about 3 1/2 billion football fans know his name. :lol:

by **chewyman** on Sat May 26, 2007 9:24 pm

I agree it's more likely to be a religious figure than any of the secular options, but I'm still undecided as to whether it's likely to be Jesus or Buddha. I realise numbers of followers isn't a very good indicator, because it doesn't mean the central figures of a given religion isn't well-known in any particular area, but Christianity still has overwhelming numbers over Buddhism.

Also, it's arguable that you could say that Jesus is likely to be well-known in Islamic-dominated countries, as he is a figure in that religion, too (although - even though he is mentioned in the Koran - I've no idea how prominent a figure he actually is amongst Muslims.)

Christianity does have far more supporters globally than Buddhism, but this is not the case in Asia. However well known Jesus is in the Middle East, that number means nothing compared to the rest of Asia further East. Westerns are, on average, better educated then their Asian counterparts and therefore will know more about other religions, such as Buddhism. Thus, regardless of how much of an impact Buddha may have caused up until today (which I think is probably less than Hitler or Jesus) he is still more well known.

I honestly think hitler had a massive influence around the world... i understand what you're saying about asia, but remember he was allied with tojo, who was a serious threat to the whole of asia, australia AND america.

Tojo is well known, especially in the Far East of Asia. Hitler didn't actually have much of an impact on those people's daily lives. Of those spheres that you mentioned (Australia and America - although I assume you just meant North America) Buddha is equally well known of, and much more well known in Asia.