My students have been working on a project to determine the 10 most significant people of the Second Millennium. That is a lot harder to do than you might realize. Any of us could sit down and name 30 or 40 people off the top of our head, but try to limit it to only 10. It truly is almost impossible.
The first problem is the word significant. You are not being asked to determine the "Greatest", or the most "Famous". You are being asked to choose the most significant. That includes the proverbial GOOD, BAD, and the UGLY. Everyone from Hitler, Stalin, and Sherman on the Bad side. (Yes, I dared to put a Union General in with "those guys". Its my blog I can do what I want to.) And, Shakespeare, Beethoven, and Da Vinchi on the Good side. We want even get into the Ugly debate!!!!
The other major issue with this assignment is perspective. Everybody brings their own ideas about what and who are important to this discussion. Which is more important Military Leadership or Art? Science or Literature? Being Good or Being Bad? It is a tough call. For instance, is Hitler more significant because of the huge number of deaths (both Holocaust and WWII in general) or is Michelangelo more important because of the millions of people who were/are inspired by his art? Think about it.
The last major difficulty I see is a reference of time. People that were considered extremely important in their own time barely get a footnote today. And, some of the people we revere today were not even on the radar in their own time. Who knows, a thousand years from now the people we put on a top ten list may all be footnotes.
Over the next several days I will share my own list and my justification for each person. You are free to disagree. Everyone has the right to be wrong! :)
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