Who has made the biggest contributions to humankind?

[_truth dancer]

A thread started by Mental Gymnastics has got me thinking... (smile),

Who (or what organizations) do you think has made the biggest contributions to humankind, say in the last thousand years? I'm thinking in terms of helping our world, humankind, and society in general. People who have really impacted humankind or made huge advancements in how we treat others, how we care for our world, or bring forth greater compassion, understanding, and healing to each other.

I'm thinking Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Jean Henri Dunant (the man who started the Red Cross and Nobel winner), would be a few examples. Possibly the big contributors to the humanitarian efforts like Bill Gates may be on the list? Saint Patrick of Ireland who was the first person we know of who spoke out against slavery perhaps?

Any nominations, ideas or thoughts?

~dancer~

[_TAK]

Johannes Gutenberg and his Printing Press

[_Rollo Tomasi]

Who (or what organizations) do you think has made the biggest contributions to humankind, say in the last thousand years?

Al Gore and his Internet. ;)

[_guy sajer]

Gordon Hinkley. Without him, the world would never have known about the soul destroying impacts of multiple earnings or tatoos.

Seriously, is the criteria that they did good, or that they had impact?

My personal hero is George Washington. A truly great man who had a huge impact on the course of world history.

And we all know that G. Washington was necessary to create the free country where God could restore his gospel to the earth.

I'm also a big fan of Ulysses Grant (as general, not as President). (My belief is that without Grant, the North very well may have lost the Civil War. Despite uninformed opinions to the contrary, a brilliant strategist.)

But I'm showing my American bias.

How about Elizabeth I?

A real hero was E.D. Morel, one of the few people willing to speak out and try to do something against the near Genocide in the Congo. (Now that's Standing for Something)

Of course, Gandhi needs to be added to the list.

Who else? Good question.

[_Bryan Inks]

My first, last and only person that meets your criteria is Adolf Hitler.

I'm in a rush to get to work, so I'll have to detail why later today, but I believe it is true.

[_Doctor Steuss]

A thread started by Mental Gymnastics has got me thinking... (smile),
Who (or what organizations) do you think has made the biggest contributions to humankind, say in the last thousand years? I'm thinking in terms of helping our world, humankind, and society in general. People who have really impacted humankind or made huge advancements in how we treat others, how we care for our world, or bring forth greater compassion, understanding, and healing to each other.
~dancer~

Unfortunately, those who strive to make "advancements in how we treat others, care for our world, or bring forth greater compassion, understanding, and healing to each other" rarely have a huge impact on the overall populous.

Gandhi definitely was one of the most dedicated to this pursuit in the last 1000 years (in my opinion). But there have been others who have reminded us of the simple beauties of life (such as Helen Keller). Maybe the person who made the greatest contribution was simply some seemingly insignificant person who gave someone else a chance somewhere in life when no one else would.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was Smiley Blanton

[_Mephitus]

Norman Borlaug. hands down. i pwn you all!

He has been credited with saving over 1 BILLION lives with his new steps in food science. The vast majority of which where not even his own ethnicity or race. He is the greatest man i know. You can read about him here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

EDIT: oh, and he is a really nice guy too.

[_Doctor Steuss]

Norman Borlaug. hands down. i pwn you all!

He has been credited with saving over 1 BILLION lives with his new steps in food science. The vast majority of which where not even his own ethnicity or race. He is the greatest man i know. You can read about him here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

EDIT: oh, and he is a really nice guy too.

If we're going to go with potential lives saved, then we might as well throw Alexander Fleming into the mix.

(I just scanned over the wiki article on Mr. Borlaug. Seems like a stellar fellow indeed.)

[_Mephitus]

ahh, i thought we might be talking currently alive people. But yeah, that would be a good debate on those two.

Though i think i might win on pure humanity. NB spent most of his life in other countries trying to improve living conditions and food supply. Not just in labs. (not that that's a bad thing) He would go around and do everything he could to help save humanity in all forms. He truly is an amazing man. I hope some day i might be able to meet him and shake his hand. He has recently been nominated for the nobel prize for all the work he has done. And he still hasent quit working. If i remember correctly, he doesn't want to stop untill either he dies, or everyone on earth has enough food to survive.

[_Doctor Steuss]

He has recently been nominated for the nobel prize for all the work he has done.

The Wiki article says he is already a Nobel laureate (awared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970).