discussion 2000 years from now, will any figure of the contemporary era still be remembered?

[Feanor]

… assuming human civilization still exists in 4000 AD ofc. 

 

But recently I've had a random thought about how many people nowadays still know famous humans of Ancient history, like Cleopatra, Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great… even tho they've all lived well over 2000 years ago. And that made me wonder whether our current contemporary era of human history (generally considered to be 1945 till now) also has famous names like that, political/societal/cultural figures who will last the test of time and still be a recognizable name millennia from now?

 

If so, which famous humans of the past ~80 years or so do you think are most likely to be remembered 2000 years from now? If any at all?

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 04:31 PM by Feanor

[LOTF]

Azealia will be considered a historian and culture critic

[fa77ot]

[Aston Martin]

6 minutes ago, Feanor said:

… assuming human civilization still exists in 4000 AD ofc. 

I'm too pessimistic to even get past this point tbh

[Virgos Groove]

MJ, Madonna, The Beatles and Elvis.

[Trent W]

It will probably be someone like Putin or Trump for being so infamous 

 

There could also be someone like Elon Musk, as much as I dislike him taking a colony to mars or the moon would be something remembered for a millennia 

[LittleCupid]

Marilyn Monroe

[Mordecai]

Very few, if any

 

They'd have to be tied to some significant event in human history like Hitler or have made some significant contribution like Thomas Edison

[PrettyHurts]

There won't be humans in 200 years, much less 2,000

 

[TheRealGâteau]

brat

[Princess Aurora]

Emphasis on If 

[Arrows]

Of the past 80 years, I think Adolf Hitler is the safest bet - tyrannic leaders tend to be pretty remembered in history.
 

Other such leaders include Mao and Stalin (for humanity's failed experiment with communism) and Trump (mostly for the storm of the Capitol).

 

History is also pretty kind to those who were the first to do something, like inventors, explorers and activists. Perhaps Neil Armstrong (first on the Moon), Steve Jobs (the smartphone), Albert Einstein (theory of relativity) and Elon Musk (if the Mars mission succeeds) and Greta Thunberg (the first globally famous eco-activist in world history).

As for entertainers, even the biggest stars used to be completely forgotten after one generation before the invention of cameras and sound recording. So I think it's difficult to predict - maybe people born in the past 100 years will have it much easier being remembered than those before because there's so much content of them? 

[narid]

44 minutes ago, Virgos Groove said:

MJ, Madonna, The Beatles and Elvis.

I was gonna type the exact same.

 

Edited Tuesday at 05:19 PM by narid

[Adam’s Eve]

Madonna will still be alive

[dumbsparce]

Elvis is barely talked about nowadays, let alone in 2000 years. Maybe Beatles and Madonna will stand the test of time and proceed to eternity along with Ava Max and MJ.

[makeawish]

people will still argue over whether radical optimism was a flop 

[Wicked]

That depends on whose scholarship lasts long enough through different mediums.

 

World leaders are a much safer bet than entertainers.

[Pendulum]

zendaya

[spree]

On 6/25/2024 at 12:34 PM, Virgos Groove said:

MJ, Madonna, The Beatles and Elvis.

pretty sure there will be nuclear war by then wiping out civilization, but if not, then this.   Maybe add non-musicians like Oprah, Donald Trump, Marilyn Monroe, Mother Teresa, etc.

[spree]

On 6/25/2024 at 1:53 PM, dumbsparce said:

Elvis is barely talked about nowadays

he is the King of Rock N Roll.  You can't talk about the history of music without mentioning him in some fashion.  He is basically the start of the Hot 100 as we know it. 

[HASHTAGPOW]

2000 years from now, we still wait for R9

[Da Vinci]

Princess Diana

[dumbsparce]

1 hour ago, spree said:

he is the King of Rock N Roll.  You can't talk about the history of music without mentioning him in some fashion.  He is basically the start of the Hot 100 as we know it. 

Well yes but irl no one talks about him. I've never come across appreciation posts on the socials or even threads about him in here while MJ, Madonna and Beatles are still talked about one way or another. Elvis's relevance in 2024 is just not as strong as the aforementioned.

[Da Vinci]

5 minutes ago, dumbsparce said:

Well yes but irl no one talks about him. I've never come across appreciation posts on the socials or even threads about him in here while MJ, Madonna and Beatles are still talked about one way or another. Elvis's relevance in 2024 is just not as strong as the aforementioned.

He just had a Best Picture nominated box office hit biopic a couple of years ago

[Doctor Dick]

Interesting thread. I'd say Thomas Edison comes to mind considering he invented the voice recorder, electricity and the motion picture. Out of popular entertainers I'd say Michael Jackson probably has the largest chances because his music keeps on being celebrated and his image and dancing has influenced so much.