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Your Top 5 People that influenced your thinking

Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:08 pm
Posted by OMLandshark
Member since Apr 2009
119977 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:08 pm
And I’m going with famous people, not people in your personal life (which would be Top 5 for almost everyone). For me:

1) Penn Jillette
2) George Carlin
3) Christopher Hitchens
4) Matt Stone and Trey Parker
5) Sam Harris

Penn Jillette got to me right into high school with “Penn and Teller’s bullshite” and the only episode I disagreed with them on was the death penalty, and I think I went from a big conservative to a hardcore libertarian thanks to him. Matt and Trey I’ve also almost entirely agreed with their line of politics and their philosophy connected with me at an early age as well.

The other 3 I found out about a bit later in life and made me cynical to the world around me.

What are your 5?
This post was edited on 1/29/19 at 8:09 pm
Posted by Azkiger
Member since Nov 2016
27059 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:13 pm to
In no particular order.

1. Ben Shapiro
2. Jordan Peterson
3. Sam Harris
4. Christopher Hitchens
5. Thomas Paine
Posted by Caplewood
Atlanta
Member since Jun 2010
39423 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:13 pm to
Julius Evola
Oswald Mosley
Miguel Serrano
Niccolò Giani
Sam Hyde
Posted by Robin Masters
Birmingham
Member since Jul 2010
35453 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:14 pm to
Jesus
Emerson
Ayn Rand
NWA
Carlin/the Simpsons/South Park
This post was edited on 1/29/19 at 8:19 pm
Posted by Pettifogger
I don't really care, Margaret
Member since Feb 2012
86251 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:15 pm to
Some who I don't necessarily agree with in full (or even in large part) but who influenced my thought over time...

Neal Boortz
Antonin Scalia
Mark Steyn
Samuel Huntington
Posted by RockyMtnTigerWDE
War Damn Eagle Dad!
Member since Oct 2010
108345 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:16 pm to
Aristotle
Plato
Sun Tzu
Descartes
Socrates
Posted by zeebo
Hammond
Member since Jan 2008
5407 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:16 pm to
William Buckley
Whitaker Chambers
Ann Ryand
Joni Mitchell
Richard Prior
Posted by GregMaddux
LSU Fan
Member since Jun 2011
18658 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:17 pm to
None.

People who seem to think the same as me.

Carlin
Carolla
Vacherie Saint
Posted by Ollieoxenfree99
Member since Aug 2018
7748 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:17 pm to
Posted by OMLandshark
Member since Apr 2009
119977 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:17 pm to
quote:

Some who I don't necessarily agree with in full (or even in large part) but who influenced my thought over time...



Keep in mind, it can have something to do with something you are terrified by. I considered putting both Osama Bin Laden and Karl Marx as terrifying examples on where I want to do the exact opposite of what they want. I’m thinking about replacing Harris with one of them.
Posted by themunch
bottom of the list
Member since Jan 2007
71406 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:18 pm to
The four sisters that moved in across the street and their dad
Posted by OMLandshark
Member since Apr 2009
119977 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:19 pm to
quote:

None


That’s bullshite. You are human and therefore a sponge. You absorb information outside of your control and often understanding, and that influences how you think in the future.
Posted by Wednesday
Member since Aug 2017
17030 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:19 pm to
I love this thread

1) Ronald Regan (when I was little I thought he would always be the POTUS).
2) Margaret Thatcher (Bad arse woman leader who helped end the Cold War).
3) Rush Limbaugh (so not intellectual I know, but Rush just has a way to put things and he got huge right when I was entering college)
4) Antonin Scalia (law school)
5) Malcolm Gladwell. (His books are fascinating).
Posted by Robin Masters
Birmingham
Member since Jul 2010
35453 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:19 pm to
quote:

Malcolm Gladwell. (His books are fascinating


Great podcasts as well.
Posted by udtiger
Over your left shoulder
Member since Nov 2006
113085 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:20 pm to
John C. Calhoun
J.R.R. Tolkien
P.J. O'Rourke
Camille Paglia
Rush Limbaugh
Posted by DavidTheGnome
Monroe
Member since Apr 2015
31359 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:20 pm to
quote:

Matt Stone and Trey Parker



That’s a really good one and I haven’t bought about it until now but their influence on political thought especially amongst the young can’t be understated.
Posted by Ralph_Wiggum
Sugarland
Member since Jul 2005
11041 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:21 pm to
1. Jesus
2. St. Francis of Assisi
3. Oscar Romero
4.Thomas Merten
5. Karl Marx
Posted by DelU249
Austria
Member since Dec 2010
77625 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:23 pm to
(no message)
This post was edited on 5/26/23 at 7:20 pm
Posted by Pettifogger
I don't really care, Margaret
Member since Feb 2012
86251 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:23 pm to
quote:

Keep in mind, it can have something to do with something you are terrified by. I considered putting both Osama Bin Laden and Karl Marx as terrifying examples on where I want to do the exact opposite of what they want. I’m thinking about replacing Harris with one of them.



Yeah I included people who've mostly "positively" influenced my thought in the sense that they've promoted a worldview that I've adopted in at least some part or that reinforced positions or ways of thinking I already held. Most of mine were just sort of the right voice to get to me at a particular, impressionable stage of life.

I tried to think of any that had "negatively" influenced my thinking to a similar degree, but none really reached that level. Maybe some combination of Derrida and Foucault, but not really.
Posted by OMLandshark
Member since Apr 2009
119977 posts
Posted on 1/29/19 at 8:24 pm to
quote:

Fox Mulder


Trump is most certainly your #1.
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