Top ten smartest living people - smartest people alive
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Top ten smartest living people - smartest people alive

Intelligence is a nebulous concept, one that I suspect lacks meaning altogether. Does intelligence refer to brainpower, or to problem solving ability? Is there any difference? Does intelligence perhaps refer to something else, like creativity or intuition? And what do we even mean when we refer to those things? Is intelligence measured by potential or performance? If potential, doesn't this change throughout one's lifetime (if for no other reason than that the physical structure of our brains changes)? If performance, isn't intelligence then nothing more than a statement of historical intellectual triumphs rather than an indicator of future insights? And how do we know that there is even a smartest person alive? Settling on a list of the ten smartest people is probably no less absurd than generating a list of the ten biggest numbers. The concept of intelligence is not clear cut, but this list certainly is.



Rank
 

Name

Blog Text

Born

Profession

Birthplace

Nationality

Gender

Spouse

Children

Parents

Date Born

Height (m)

Weight (kg)

Institution

Degree

Major/Field Of Study

End Date

Employer

Title

  • 1
    scott aaronson_Person
    scott aaronson
    There is a saying that the work of ordinary geniuses can be reproduced while the work of exceptional geniuses--magicians--is so dazzling that you can't imagine doing it. Scott calls people who popularize science to their generations "prophets." Scott is a prophet and a magician and this is why he lands on the page of the smartest living people.
  • 2
    Paul Krugman_Person_Author_Award Winner_General
    Political commentator, Keynesian economist, popular pundit, Paul Krugman extracts simplicity from confusion and distills it to a wide audience in terms everyone can understand. Paul Krugman earns his way onto this list of the smartest people alive.
    1953-02-28
    Author,Columnist,Economist
    Long Island
    United States
    Male
    Feb 28 1953
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Yale University
    Princeton University,Stanford University,Yale University,University of California, Berkeley,London School of Economics
  • 3
    Norman Finkelstein_Person_General
    Political scientist, intellectual renegade, honest as stone, Norman Finkelstein will not be cowed. He earns a spot on this list of the smartest living people.
    1953-12-08
    Political scientist,Writer
    United States
    Male
    Dec 8 1953
    Princeton University,Binghamton University
    DePaul University,Rutgers University,New York University
  • 4
    Steven Pinker_Person_Author_General
    A cognitive scientist, philosopher and linguist, Steven Pinker has perhaps done more to move these important social sciences into the fold of the hard sciences than any of his peers. While not infallible, he is an exacting, insightful thinker, and for this reason he earns a spot on my list of the smartest people alive.
    1954-09-18
    Psychologist,Science writer,Scientist
    Montreal
    Canada,United States
    Male
    Sep 18 1954
    Harvard University
  • 5
    Edward Witten_Person_Award Winner_General
    Ed Witten almost became an economist. Thank god he didn't, because physics and mathematics wouldn't be the same without him. With a Feynmanesque explanatory ability and a Penrosian mathematical prowess, this scientist takes names and kicks butt. He fits snugly on my list of the smartest people alive.
    1951-08-26
    Mathematician,Physicist,Scientist
    Baltimore
    United States
    Male
    Chiara Nappi,Edward Witten
    Aug 26 1951
    Brandeis University,Princeton University
    Institute for Advanced Study,Princeton University
  • 6
    Murray Gell-Mann_Person_Award Winner_General
    The irascible Murray Gell-Mann knows so much about so many things that it's hard to exclude him from this list, even if his legendary cantankerousness is not an admirable intellectual trait. Fundamental physics wouldn't be the same without him, and this list of the smartest living people wouldn't either.
    1929-09-15
    Physicist,Scientist
    Manhattan
    United States
    Male
    Sep 15 1929
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Yale University
    California Institute of Technology
  • 7
    Glenn Greenwald_Person_General
    Glenn Greenwald writes prodigiously on politics and rarely, if ever, does he err. He is one of a kind and sits not at all awkwardly on a list of the smartest people alive.
    1967
    Lawyer
    New York
    United States
    Male
    George Washington University,New York University School of Law,Juris Doctor
  • 8
    Noam Chomsky_Person_Film actor_Author_Award Winner_Musical Groups & Artists_Actors_General
    Noam Chomsky may get some things wrong occasionally, but so does everyone else. He is usually correct, almost always insightful, and his incisive thoughts in the hard sciences and the social sciences are irreplaceable. This list of the smartest living people needs Chomsky on it.
    1928-12-07
    Linguist,Philosopher,Professor,Scientist,Writer
    East Oak Lane
    United States
    Male
    Carol Chomsky,Noam Chomsky
    Dec 7 1928
    University of Pennsylvania,Central High School
    B.A.,M.A.,Ph.D.
    Linguistics
    1945,1949,1955,1951
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Institute for Advanced Study
    Emeritus
  • 9
    Terence Tao_Person_Award Winner_General
    Terence Tao. To some this name is synonymous with mathematical genius, to others with prodigiousness, and to some with glory. He coauthored a a beautiful proof that there are arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions in the primes, and maintains an extremely popular blog. He is an easy addition to my list of the top ten smartest living people.
    1975-07-17
    Mathematician
    Australia,United States
    Male
    Jul 17 1975
    Princeton University,Flinders University
    University of California, Los Angeles
    Professor
  • 10
    Paris Hilton_Person_TV Actor_TV Personality_Film actor_Award Winner_Musical Groups & Artists_Actors_General
    Paris Hilton. She may or may not be one of the top ten smartest people alive, but I include her on this list to put the seriousness of this whole list in perspective. This list is not a serious thing.
    12345
    Author,Businessperson,Entrepreneur,Model,Musician,Singer
    New York
    Germany,United States
    Female
    Feb 17 1981
    1.70

Comments


comment by   Zak on December 01, 2009 22:27 about Top ten smartest living people - smartest people alive
at least you picked a good pic of Paris. what about "Connie" Hilton. oh wait he's dead.

 







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