Smartest man who ever lived?

[IronUnkind]

Sklansky does not have a very nuanced understanding of what constitutes "intelligence." It seems very important for him to cling to his narrow definition of "actual smartness" because it underpins his own claims to greatness (and his father's).

[ceskylev]

I agree about Shakespeare, but as a linguist, rather than an artist. I think his contributions to the English language have held up much better than his plays.

That said, I wholeheartedly agree with your larger point about the place of artists in this discussion. It's a different kind of brilliance, but it's still brilliance.

[Prevaricator]

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I say Leibniz.

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I'd pick leibniz over newton, but smartest of all time?

I'd probably choose Einstein.

I'd also consider Plato, Schroedinger or Heidegger and some others that people have already named

[Jeff W]

Heidegger? Come on...

Newton is #1.

[Prevaricator]

[ QUOTE ]
Newton is #1.

[/ QUOTE ]

why? Explain to me how newton goes before leibniz.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
why? Explain to me how newton goes before leibniz.

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He made more discoveries in more fields than Liebniz. Optics, Thermodynamics, Astronomy, the classical laws of force and motion including Gravity and Conservation of Momentum, Calculus and the Binomial theorem.

Liebniz is very influential as well: First mechanical calculator IIRC and integral calculus. However, I believe Liebniz' brilliance is overshadowed by the breadth of Newton's contributions and the very short time period over which Newton generated all of his ideas.

[gumpzilla]

[ QUOTE ]

Liebniz is very influential as well: First mechanical calculator IIRC and integral calculus. However, I believe Liebniz' brilliance is overshadowed by the breadth of Newton's contributions and the very short time period over which Newton generated all of his ideas.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's important to realize that you're talking to a likely philosopher, which is the real reason for picking Leibniz before Newton.