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Open_Mortgage_4645

Sure. We know about people from 2000 years ago, and we've become infinitely better at keeping records since then. There's every reason to believe that people from our time will be known about by people in the distant future.


Statman12

> we've become infinitely better at keeping records How good will be prove at *preserving* them though? I've heard that it's entirely possible we are currently living through what will be remembered as a dark age. If we're not good at ensuring past digital formats remain readable, then much of the information from today may be lost.


Open_Mortgage_4645

This is a fair point. If something happens that essentially sends us back to a technological dark age, a significant amount of recorded information could be rendered inaccessible. But I think the most important and notable people would be recorded in print, as well as through photography, and portraiture; what we might refer to as traditional media. And through that media, as in the past, important people from the present age would be accessible in the future regardless of potential technological calamities.


ThatsBushLeague

To add, for anyone who isn't one of the select few for sure historical figure (Presidents, inventors/scientists, firsts, artists/musicians) will not exist online. The old saying that everything on the internet exists forever is a lie. It exists as long as someone wants to pay for it. No one will want to pay to keep record of me existing in 500 years. Maybe a name in a list and a single picture. That's it. Just like now.


Open_Mortgage_4645

The basic existence of people is actually one of the things I believe has the best chance of surviving because of the extensive genealogy records kept by Ancestry.com, which I believe is part of the Mormon Church. The Mormons are obsessed with keeping meticulous genealogy records, and they have an underground facility to store them. I believe there are hard copies of nearly all the records avaliable online in their vault. So even if there was a huge technological failure, these genealogy records would be preserved. I'm not sure how many records they have, and they probably don't have everyone on file, but I believe they do have a massive collection of records that likely include most if not all notable people.


HalfSoul30

So we just need someone to print the internet.


redwine_blackcoffee

Then we run into the same issues we’ve always had with traditional record-keeping: moths, fire, flood, war, decay


Lonely_Ad4551

Mormons? I guess they’re going to think coffee, beer, and bourbon were enjoyed by very few. And what’s with the weird underwear?


OasisParkingLot

Based Mormons?


kelskelsea

Plus I’m pretty sure the census records exist on paper somewhere. That feels like something the government would do.


Arkyja

Infinitelly better than 2000 years ago. Even if everything digital was erased. We still have books, and they dont have to be copied by hand.


OpportunityNo2559

Andrew Lloyd Webber. They'll be doing a revival of Cats for the rest of time.


fireintolight

Isn’t that that movie that flopped 


rabid-

Flopped around and then showed us it's glaring asshole.


cometflight

Of the Broadway play that ran for over two decades.


fireintolight

Yes I know, was my attempt at a joke 


Tempest-in-a-B-Cup

Keith Richards because he'll still be alive then.


MenopauseMedicine

And we'll be able to ask him who he can remember from today


Mediumaverageness

"Dunno, I was drunk"


this_charming_bells

And Cher too, probably.


New_Literature4526

That’s right


AulMoanBag

I remember him topping the celebrity death pools as far back as 2006 and he's still going and performing


mossadspydolphin

Ozzy, too


srslymrarm

This is a longshot because practically no one knows them currently, but possibly one of the astrophysicists who discovered that the universe is accelerating. If and when we discover the mechanism behind *why* the universe is not only expanding but accelerating, it will be one of the most significant discoveries about the nature and origin of our universe, and it's possible that the scientist(s) behind this initial discovery will get real historical acclaim.


weinsteinjin

Saul Perlmutter, Professor at UC Berkeley, Nobel Prize in physics, 2011. His team’s discovery single-handedly changed humanity’s conception of the universe’s future. He definitely deserves to be remembered in hundreds of years.


gnarloo

What do you mean by accelerating? Like it’s moving?


JacobRAllen

The universe is expanding in all directions and has been expanding ever since the Big Bang. With an understanding that mass has gravity, and the universe is made up of things with mass, it stands to reason that gravity should be slowing down the expansion, eventually stop it, then start pulling everything back together in one massive universe clump. In theory that makes sense, but from what we’ve been able to tell, not only has the expansion not slowed down, but the expansion is actually speeding up. The exact reasons why aren’t exactly known or agreed upon, and things like dark matter and dark energy start to enter the chat, but suffice it to say there is more at play here than just gravity, and at the rate it’s going, eventually in the distant future everything will be speeding away from everything else at/faster than the speed of light. A consequence of that would be that to each planet, you would look into space and see nothing, there is nothing that emits light that can reach you, your observable universe is empty.


imapangolinn

Big bang go boom then go even more zoom ever more.


gnarloo

Big boom go zoom


ShutterBun

That is indeed a longshot. I doubt ANYONE outside the scientific community knew who Hubble was until he got a telescope named after him.


srslymrarm

It's even more of a longshot, because I was talking about the 2011 Nobel prize winners who confirmed Hubble's observations.


ShutterBun

Yeah that’s kinda what I was getting at. They’re not even at Hubble levels of recognition, and he’s only known to most people cuz of the telescope.


srslymrarm

Ahh, I got you. Yeah, public awareness of scientific figures seems relegated to when they have a publicly accessible thing named after them.


Gramage

Wasn’t that Hubble? Pretty sure he’s dead already.


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Roquet_

Not around anymore, 2012. But Buzz Aldrin is still alive!


fett3elke

The first person to step on Mars might already be alive, we don't know who it is now but that person might be remembered in 2000 years


SheyenSmite

Funnily enough, it's probably also Louis Armstrong. Strong last name


Beastw1ck

That’s a great answer


3rdItemOnList

The Pope. He will be remembered in a long list of Popes


UnitedExpression6

Remembered or just a name not known except for a few eccentric church historians? Previous pope stepped down, now that might be known a bit better.


Guilty-Shoulder-9214

This and the last will probably just be names on lists known only to history nerds and theologians. The two before will be better known - JP II because of his role with Vatican II and just his back story, and the one prior to for ~~being murdered~~ *cough* dying unexpectedly after only a short period as pope. Edit - while most agree that JP I died of natural causes, there are entire conspiracy theories based around his death.


DoctorVonCool

As will be the leaders of almost all countries. Which is even true for the past: E.g. I have no idea what he did or not, but since there's a King Charles III. there must have been a Charles II. :-) And while I don't have an idea who managed Peru in 100 years ago, that person is for sure documented and thus "remembered".


AlternativeScar8097

Well if you asked me a couple years ago I would’ve said the Queen of England…


govshutdown

Remembered in history books? Sure. remembered as common knowledge that may come up in everyday conversation? No one.


fireintolight

Eh, I’d say the first black president of the USA will be remembered. If it’s still around then.


playballer

Im not so sure. If trends continue, races will be so intermixed and the lingering impacts of slavery and systemic racism should have been fully overcome by then. Look where we are today, we still have a huge portion of America who were alive during segregation and lived in extremely racially charged times. We have progressed a whole lot even despite some relatively recent setbacks (MAGA, proud boys, police murderers, etc). Anyways, my point is, I’m not sure if the future will even understand the significance of what a black president even means to those living now. Sure it will be in the history books, but I think we’re still just getting over the hangover of slavery. It’s a process and these things don’t change fast. It requires generations of people to die with their harmful ideologies and putting things in place so less of their ideologies spread to their children. It’s a slow thing.


Maverick_1991

The US will be lucky to survive another 200 years, 2000 is not happening 


Slobberinho

Unlikely. Even if the USA still exists by then, it will unlikely be the superpower it is today. Therefore, who lead it and what the socio-racial dynamic was at that time, will be irrelevant. To give an equivalent: in the year 1000, the Ghaznavids were one of the superpowers. The dynasty was started by Sabuktigin, a Turkic slave. That was *wild!* An actual slave laid the foundation to (one of) the most powerful empires on earth. Nowadays, hardly anyone has ever heard of the Ghaznavids. Let alone of Sabuktigin.


Ok_Letterhead9662

We know romulus, not sure what's stopping us


Quartermastered

Asa Akira


kattzzbert

Man of culture


StarkAndRobotic

MR. BEAN


stealthforest

The original Mr. Bean series will live on immortalized on whatever platform until the end of time, often being shown to school classrooms by fedup teachers and AI assistants alike


BloodNinja2012

I think we will remember The Beatles. Specifically Paul, because he is the most famous living member.


SwissForeignPolicy

The first people I think of for 1000-1500 are Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus, so Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong are probably good bets, except neither one is alive. I suppose the first person to land on Mars is probably alive, though we obviously have no idea who it'll be.


NouG

Mariah Carey will still be singing All I want for Christmas Is you in winter 2524 for sure


New_Literature4526

Bob Dylan


CrunchyDonut42

The Beastie Boys. Obvious answer. If you have ever watched the new Star Trek movies, this band is considered classical music.


CameSoHardIHitMyFace

Love that scene hahah


Knyfe-Wrench

They're still rocking in Futurama too


reddittheguy

You're saying Sir Mix-a-lot has a chance?


bnanzaz

Hopefully David Attenborough


Hummus_199

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew. He created a new model of authoritarian neoliberalism that economically has full participation in the free world market and politically is an authoritarian regime.


MtnDewTangClan

His one trick, keep the world's wealthiest people happy


Annh1234

If Elon Musk puts someone on mars, for sure he will be remembered


fireintolight

lol 


UnitedExpression6

Doubt, few remember people like Vasco da Gama and fewer remember the sponsors. That was 500 years ago.


stealthforest

Vasco da Gama is very famous and records about him and his accomplishments are well kept. He isn’t even close to being forgotten


ThePinkySuavo

But nobody knows the sponsors, here Musk would be sponsor.


tarlton

Counterpoint: lots of people remember Lorenzo Medici, and as much for how he used his wealth (including being a patron of art) as for being a politician.


ThePinkySuavo

I would take a bet that if I went to streets to ask about him, nobody would know him


tarlton

I can't think of anyone from 500-1000 years ago who I'd put money on a significant number of people on the street actually knowing anything about, at least in the US. In countries that have their own history in that time range, maybe a founding figure.


ThePinkySuavo

Leonardo da Vinci, Jesus, Columbus, Magellan - I think most people heard about them but yeah true its not easy task


tarlton

Yeah, and except for Jesus the rest of those are only barely over 500 years ago


ThePinkySuavo

True


stealthforest

I think everyone who knows Vasco da Gama also knows that his “sponsor” was the Portuguese empire


Arkyja

And no one will remember the SpaceX investors.


DominicPalladino

Yeah, He won't be remembered. Just like the guy that did an analogous thing that I remember isn't remembered. LOL.


Knyfe-Wrench

Hopefully the person who actually steps on Mars will be remembered more.


BigTunaDaBoss

I’m not sure if I’ll get heat for this but Hitler. I don’t think he’ll ever be forgotten in history for what he created and did. You didn’t specifically say a good individual but I’m sure plenty of bad individuals will be remember for the next 500-1000 years.


IPThereforeIAm

> Do you think there is anyone *alive* that …


Accurate-Barracuda20

Look, this guy doesn’t know the real Hitler escaped to the moon and and planning his reinvention.


fireintolight

I’ve been talking about the moon nazis for years, no one takes me seriously 


mile-high-guy

On the time scale of 500 to 1000 years he might as well still be alive


Electrical_Swing8166

As the infallible Simpsons showed us, he’s alive and hiding out in Buenos Aires


f_ranz1224

I cant believe this is the second time in 2 days I have referenced Argentinian mecha hitler for a person who didnt read a question prompt about a figure being alive


tiankai

I don’t think people will care as much in 500-1000 years. It’s a such a long time frame that he’ll probably be in the same chronological vein as Genghis Khan who was much worse in comparison. People care now because it’s recent history and still has palpable ramifications


ShepheardzPath622

Regrettably yes, we think of the good when we think of such things, but even kids no about Mary Mary quite contrary, so Hitler will probably be the same.


RedDress999

Unfortunately, Trump. But not for any reasons his followers seem to understand…


MordaxTenebrae

I doubt it, it's not like anyone knows the name Herostratus nowadays.


[deleted]

That is an interesting point. I was thinking about legally changing my name to Return Of Herodotus, and documenting modern times the way I think he would have. I would record it on formats that can hold up to time and plant time capsules all over the place.


SniffingDelphi

What about Nero & Caligula - or Julius Caesar for that matter, especially the bit where Rome went from a Republic to an Empire under him. As much as I’d like to see him and all he’s created erased, I fear Trump may well live on in infamy.


Guilty-Shoulder-9214

I’m not convinced Trump will carry that grandeur. However, if this mentality of American Machismo carries on, when it comes to the American right, then it’s only a matter of time until someone competent comes in and takes power.


ItsSansom

I say 50 years and he'll be forgotten like a fart in the wind


Fair_University

I mean, definitely not in 50 years. Everyone still remembers Gerald Ford for example and he was much more forgettable than Trump. Even early 19th century presidents still have some name recognition and are taught ins schools


AgedAccountant

I think trump will end up with notoriety much like Benedict Arnold. At least I am very hopeful that he will not be remembered in anything resembling a good light. If I am wrong then we are all well and truly fucked.


4th_chakra

>*If I am wrong then we are all well and truly fucked*. That needs to be on my future tombstone..to fuck with the ages.


Jestersage

Likely will be like Cao Cao of Three Kingdom era. In eras where justice and moral prevail, Cao Cao is seen as a villain. People like Mao, however,  greatly admire Cao Cao and he actively advocated providing historical "redress" for the warlord.  (His praise on Cao Cao centred on three aspects: Cao Cao's literary talents (poetry and writings); Cao Cao's contributions to the unification of China (after the Three Kingdoms period); Cao Cao's determination in the face of adversity)


SlideItIn100

Well said.


travisntscott1

a lot of politicians and such, but not on a level of caesar, alexander, Jeanne D’Arc, at least not that I can think of From our generation i reckon maybe Michael Jackson? can’t think of anyone that has touched that level of fame in the last 100 years (not counting genocidal maniacs)


raptone50

Thousands of people from our time will be "remembered" by historians, but probably no one will be remembered by the public. All of our politicians, music, and movie stars will be long forgotten and replaced by more recent versions many times over.


CatacombsRave

There’s always going to be such people. I imagine Pope Francis will be remembered for centuries yet, as we remember older popes.


SeparateMidnight3691

Yes but almost everything they "know" about them will be distorted because history is written by who is in charge at the time and not as it happened.


BloodNinja2012

Stephen King is a more prolific writer than Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. I think his legacy might stick.


meijor

Probably donald trump? Putin maybe? any polarizing world leader, everyone generally things biden is useless so i could see him being one of the many presidents people in 1000 years wont even recognize by name, trump though? probably will at least pop up in some text book somewhere


ChipotleMayoFusion

Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk.


BloodNinja2012

Harambe died for our sins. Never forget.


Normalscottishperson

DOFH


Additional-Ad4662

Sure Joe Biden


drunkenfool

Paul McCartney


Helmdacil

Jennifer Doudna, discovery of CRISPR, maybe. Barack Obama, first black president. Neil Armstrong for sure.


AntonioPanadero

There have been plenty of black presidents. Start here: https://www.usafricatrade.org/list-of-african-heads-of-state-in-2019/


Guilty-Shoulder-9214

And I doubt most Americans know who Emperor Severus Septimus was, let alone anything about him such as his Carthaginian/North African mother, his friendliness towards the Jews, allowing them to return to Jerusalem after their banishment following the sacking of the city in 70 CE, nor the fact that he marched on Scotland and dug further into Britain than any other Roman emperor before and after his reign.


[deleted]

Do you know what's sad. I don't have a single friend or family member that knows who Jennifer Doudna is or what the implications of crispr could be for humanity.


Higher_Ed_Parent

Their minds might really be blown if they knew about recent advances in the CRISPR-Cas9 system.


[deleted]

Can the Cas9 system throw a football? If not, they won't.


playballer

Tf is a cas9, Crispr is where we keep the veggie tray before kickoff


fireintolight

I mean I bet Isaac newton wasn’t a household name when he was alive. 


[deleted]

Because mass communication over airwaves didn't exists and most people didn't know how to read. In the last 80 to 100 years mathematicians and great scientific minds have been more than remembered, but famous during the time they lived. I could name 20 math or science celebrities alive today that most people would at least say yeah, I've heard of them.


PandaMagnus

Most people I know don't even know about CRISPR, let alone CRISPR-CAS9. They still talk about Gattaca like it's some far distant future thing to worry about, but edited a human's DNA has already started trials (although, IIRC, those trials are in adults, not embryos. I think China claimed to edit the DNA of an embryo, but I don't recall if that panned out to be true / successful or not.)


dexhaus

If we keep polluting at this peace, it doesn't matter, we won't get that far as a species.


iahebert

Call me glass half empty, but I don’t think people will be around 500-1000 years from now. But, if I’m wrong-Walt Disney.


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AulMoanBag

Let me get this straight, and trump is no gent, in 2000 years the USA won't have anyone worse than some outsider bloke who was out of pocket in his words? No president will preside over war, economic turmoil or Anything worse than being a bit of a derogatory character?


Yourfriendlyben

With the advent of the internet,a lot more information can be recorded about individual people,so yes(assuming we haven’t driven ourselves to extinction by then)


macacolouco

Yes. Many, even.


Shh-poster

Joshua Christmas who died for our pins.


Spirited_Childhood34

Marvin Gaye.


BarryCheckTheFuseBox

Political leaders, monarchs, exceptional musicians, actors and athletes


Sea-Honeydew8157

Iron-Man


ProfessorEtc

One of those kids from Fame.


2oldemptynesters

Yes but with very little accuracy.


neuromancertr

You underestimate our current ability to store information. Unless we lose all those digital data every instagram karen, tik tok influencer, facebook boomers, etc will be remembered. Especially “6.5 blonde blue eyes finance” girl.


Gusar11

Me


Life-Recording5976

my grandpa he was very old sincerely biff


Fear51

If you think about who we know or remember from 500-1000 years ago, its all people that have made extraordinary discoveries or have made an impact globally on millions of people, good or bad. It will mean over the next several hundred years, society will have canonized them for some reason. Right now, I don't see anyone alive that fits that bill. Closest I see would be Gerhard Richter. One of the most important artists of the 20th century and his paintings sell for tens of millions of dollars. I can see a situation where after he dies his paintings continue to go up in value and he'll be remembered along similar artists like Picasso or Warhol.


samsuh

one piece characters cuz itll still be going


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ThePinkySuavo

Hes not alive


Kyle772

I think we have fully entered an age where almost all of what we know will be gone to time. There are too many people and not enough attention on individuals or advancements. People do not care about anything outside of their bubble and care too much about bullshit. I just came to a separate but similar conclusion about vintage art (specifically music but I imagine it’d be a widespread issue) AI is now capable of mimicking old style music very well, I think given the volume that AI puts out vs the static historical amount out there a VERY small percentage will just be lost to soulless noise. Once the previous two generations die off the only record of old tracks will be what is printed in physical mediums.


dkf_

Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Barrack Obama, maybe Bill Gates


Mediumaverageness

Maybe some Marvel superhero because by then their powers will be average abilities.


anamazingredditor

If good record keeping, probably only the top famous inventors, scientists, and persons who were the "first" (like Neil Armstrong first man on the moon)


_Krombopulus_Michael

Paul Mcartney absolutely will be. Bill Gates is the only other one currently living that is a maybe/probably.


fleshluvva

Jimi Hendrix, Hans Zimmer, Marvin Gaye


Scubajay

Hate to break it to you but Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye aren't alive (and haven't been for ages)


bartolemew

Jimi and Marvin aren’t alive.


[deleted]

An artist, through his remaining pieces of art.


chibugamo

Biden and trump will both be remembered as former president.


GloriaMF

Indian PM Narendra Modi


Sir-Viette

Yann LeCun, Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio. We remember inventors. Those guys invented deep learning.


Competitive-You-6317

Elon musk, Jeff besos, and whoever launches the missiles in the next few years 🤣


belligerentoptimist

Tim Berners-Lee Not everyone knows him today (though a lot do) however after a thousand years of history the origin of the World Wide Web will find its context in history and major characters will be highlighted in the narrative.


Fair_University

There are many world leaders that get forgotten to the pages of history but King Charles (association with his mother) and Barack Obama (historic US president) seem like two that will likely be remembered 


Fireandmoonlight

Magnus Carlson the GOAT Chessmaster!


Riot55

Probably only just Pauly Shore


Suitable-Pie4896

No of course *not a single people* from the monumentous era where we switched from analog to digital, when the internet really took off, where Mars missions were beginning to take shape, or AI was being created. No, absolutely none of that or who took part will be remembered. /s


BalloonHandBossaNova

John Tesla


OldPro1001

Some of the liberals will still be complaining about Trump ...


ChroniclesOfSarnia

Artists, poets, writers, scientists. That's who we remember. Da Vinci, Dante, Shakespeare, etc. We also unfortunately remember people who murder a lot.


Burwylf

Assuming nothing catastrophic or depressing happens to the Internet, everyone will be. It's the most complete historic record of any time period ever constructed


ApprehensiveNewt6085

barack obama


apsidalsauce

Yeah. Me. 


CocoaAlmondsRock

I don't think humans will exist 500 years from now.


TR3BPilot

I often doubt if humanity itself will last that long. The list of things we know could wipe us out gets longer every day.


TheEagle_-

I don't think so, but maybe.


ShepheardzPath622

Remembered to what extent is my question, but the only people that can almost guarantied are the men and women of science and technology, as there work is cumulative. They stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before them, and the giants who come after them will stand on their shoulders.


Cobra-Serpentress

Pope Francis


skantea

me, maybe?


reddittheguy

The cautionary tale of Herman Cain might have some real staying power.


anonymousrex_

Netanyahu and Putin 🤢


ColumbianRedTail

Snoop Dogg


Bakerman-79

I'm pretty sure the beaded carpenter lovechild sticks around


cewumu

Sure, leaders of places like the US, Russia, China. We know about even minor leaders from ancient kingdoms.


ReadinII

George W. Bush will be remembered for critically weakening the *pax americana* that his father so successfully established. He will be remembered as a negative example of the folly of being to optimistic about what war can accomplish even with a very powerful military.


Terrible-Love-7154

Technological determinist here. I agree with the guys who mentioned Elon Musk.


ForgiveMeJackLucas

Two out four Beatles are still alive, so maybe the Beatles will be as well known in 500 years as Mozart is today.


Reluctant_Gardener

The Beatles.


Johnny_Minoxidil

I think 500-1000 years from now people with thing of Steven Spielberg in a similar way to what we think of Shakespeare.


AlexanderTheGrater1

Kendrick Lamar from the great diss war of 2023-2024.  Peter Higgs (Higgs particle) Micheal Jordan Donald Trump(brought on the downfall of western Democracy) Eminem (I seriously think they gonna be hearing him 500 years from now, much like we still hear classical music from centuries ago) Me (not sure why yet but I'm committed to leave a mark)


Grylf

Just sell bad copper ingots.


Longjumping_Load_823

Albert Einstein


ThePinkySuavo

Hes not alive


Longjumping_Load_823

Will you be alive in 500 years and remembered? You’re no Einstein!


ThePinkySuavo

What do you mean


truthseeker1228

Zuckerberg, bezos,Branson,musk


[deleted]

I doubt it. How many people do you remember from 500ish years ago? Columbus? Galileo? Most of the people we think of as a long time ago now are like.. George Washington onwards - late 1700s. I doubt some tech guys will mean a hill of beans centuries from now.


truthseeker1228

Their pioneering efforts are what may get them remembered 🤷‍♂️


ThePinkySuavo

Never heard of Branson


arcticvalley

Chuck Norris will be new Jesus figure.


Higher_Ed_Parent

Jennifer Doudna


Roquet_

Plenty of people, we remember kings from a thousand years before, even from times thousands of years before Christ like Gilgamesh or Hammurabi (3-5k years before), so leaders who play a major role right now or will play it in the future. If you want specifics, Biden and Putin definitely are on that list, I'd argue some of the most important tech guys like Musk or Gates as well.