In no particular order, following are the people whom I consider greatest living thinkers today. These are the people who are trying to pioneer a paradigm shift in our thinking exactly the same way Einstein, Leonardo Vinci and other people did in their respective times. You will definitely find worthwhile to read about the (works of) following thinkers:
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb: debunking economists and their arrogance
- Richard Dawkins: pro-evolution and anti-religion
- Paul Graham: advocate for startups and why it makes sense to startup a company
- Seth Godin: the unconventional marketing guy
- Stephen Hawking: the scientist who cares to explain cosmology, quantum mechanics, black holes and the origin of universe to lay people
Do you think I missed any thinkers worth mentioning? What are your opinions on above mentioned thinkers?
You missed Noam Chomsky http://www.chomsky.info/.
Seth Godin’s purple cow concept has many ant-thoughts, moreover you can’t call propagator of the same marketing gimmick an thinker I guess. If Seth Godin is in the list than Guy Kawaski can also be there.
If I was to make a list, I would surely include Warren E. Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger in the list.
Then there is Roger Von Oech, John Allen Paulos, Robert Cialdini etc.
Then there are more people who are not that famous, but I think I will avoid putting them here.
Regards,
SG
Goding is good but he is not very orignal in the sense that all of his ideas are post facto analysis . you should consider Malcom Gladwell, james Surowiecki,Vilayanur Ramachandran, Jane Goodall, Peter Thiel, Aaron Swartz,wachowski brothers etc . thats my fave.
If I were to make a list, I’d definitely put Steven Pinker right up there. Rest would be debatable.
And if poets qualify for such lists, I couldn’t possibly have overlooked Nida Fazli also.
And I’m with you for including Dawkins and Hawking for sure.
I agree with your list… I guess I’d also like to see Ray Kurzweil in the list.
NNT —>awesome.
RD—->no Idea
PG—->thinker.yes.——–>great No.Never
SG—>thinker. 🙂 as you and me. Great???? why you think so ? all marketers r liers . we all are marketers therefor all are lier . cool thinking 🙂
SH—> this man is a rockstar.he is a inspiration. greta great great thinker.
BTW I am not sure who is a thinker ;). When i ask this question i find all sort fo replies from people.
You amy find lot of names in comments
here :http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/who-is-the-greatest-modern-day-thinker/
Who do you think is the greatest living thinker in India?
I am surprised you have picked Seth Godin? Why is he on your list? There are many more in his category in other fields so why not them too?
@all: Actually I am surprised that people don’t think Seth Godin is a great thinker. I think Seth giver very practical advice and is maverick in his thoughts. I like reading his writing and sort of agree to what he writes. Thats why I think he is great.
@Ivs: I cannot really name whom I consider greatest living thinker in India as my exposure to Indian thinkers is quite less. So, better if I don’t make any opinions here.
I think Noam Chomsky is the greatest living thinker. You may differ in political views. But, he always has great insights, clarity, and most importantly humane approach which is most relevant to our time.
Dawkins a thinker? Do me a favour! The man is prejudiced against religious concepts and it is from that point that he starts his arguments. That’s hardly an objective approach to be taking!
Ari, have you actually read any of his books? The selfish gene? The blind watchmaker? Climbing mount improbable?
He is a biologist who has come up with many profound ideas, like the point of view of humans being altruistic but genes being ‘selfish’, and the concept of living evolution of ideas, memes.
His books explore ways for us to make sense of the natural world, the fact that they are incompatible with tales of walking on water or beings answering prayers is irrelevant to whether he is a great thinker or not.