I would say from our generation, someone who has the greatest potential is Elon Musk.

Vashta, I didn't refresh the page, and I did not see your post (for the record)

I agree with the article when it says that it depends on what we value inthe future.
Bill Gates most likely.
Steve Jobs most likely
when we get to music, its a bit trickier. It depends on our musical tastes. If high pitched beeps and boops become mainstream music, than the electronic genre of music (house, trap, dubstep) will be greatly admired for pushing us in this direction.

Writers:
Jk Rowling most likely
James Patterson

It also depends on what the government and political system will be. 2000 years is a LONG time. If The United States collapses, maybe only Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Truman, and MAYBE Obama will go down in the books out of the politicians.

Me. It's a long story and my accomplishments haven't come to pass yet, but I am VERY ambitious.

Going with the "villains" -- Osama bin Laden & Vladimir Putin look like certain bets, possibly Hugo Chavez (at least in Latin American history classes). I predict Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping will be remembered as key leaders of their respective countries (India and China), for good or for ill.

Bahá'u'lláh? (depending on whether the faith he created becomes as important as the ones which proceeded it)

According to Futurama, Richard Nixon and Al Gore are likely contenders.

I think it's fairly unlikely anybody from the current generation will be remembered that much (or, for anything done so far, at least). Some periods lend themselves to being forgotten, and this seems like one so far.

As for the past 300 years -- the Beatles, Beethoven, Dostoevsky, Joyce, Keats, the American founders, Hitler (the last two probably more than anybody else), maybe Churchill, Maxwell, Einstein, Turing.

I hope characters like FDR are remembered. I also think we will remember MLK, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and other pioneers of civil rights around the world. Figures like Hitler, Stalin, and other terrible leaders, hopefully outside of the Western sphere, might last. Osama bin Laden may last, but unlike the others listed here, he is known for a single event. Events tend not to be remembered; rather, civilizations are, and the events are subsequently twisted and forgotten. September 11 will likely be just another day on the calendar again sometime down the road.

The great early industrialists - Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc. - will probably be remembered but not nearly to the extent as future industrialists, particularly those whose inventions last thousands of years. Carnegie and Rockefeller don't have a legacy that will last that long. Elon Musk is a good bet but I would imagine that that someone who blows us all away is yet to be born.

Just some random thoughts.

@semck83
that's what every generation says. You'd be surprised though. There are people from almost ever every generation that have been/ will be remember. That's sorta how we mark down the eras in history. Is the history books going to be blank from 1980-2020? No it will be filled with people and achievements.

Except for the baby boomers, because the world revolves around them apparently.

Yoyoyozo,

First, it's not what every generation says. I think it was clear to everyone in 1919 that Einstein was for the ages. You're right, though, that many who are considered great now were underappreciated in their time.

Second -- will the history books be blank? No. But they may be filled with stuff that are not widely remembered. Not much is remembered from 1870-1900, for example: it was a time of mostly mediocrity in politics; there was some science and industry going on, and the old west, and those things get a little attention, as well as some good music (Tchaikovsky). But it's relatively empty, compared say to 1830-1870 or 1920-1950. Going farther back, would anybody really compare the fifth century with the first or the first BC? What about the eighth?

It seems clear that some ages produce more that is memorable. It is of course possible that I am wrong in evaluating the present one; but it's not the case that all are equal.

The fifth century doesn't lend to that example quite so well. It's swollen with important bits of history (especially to the Roman Empire(s)).

It has many important bits, yes. But is it as full of widely remembered people as a few centuries before? No.

Still, the other examples were admittedly better.

"Not much is remembered from 1870-1900"
Are you familiar with ragtime? Scott Joplin maybe? His Entertainer is pretty much universally known so yeah. And I'm fairly certain youve heard at least one song from Tin Pan Alley.

Musical Notation wasn't a thing in the 5th century and the culture of music changed.
Yes people know who Julius Caesar is, Leonidas, Constantine, ect. YES from every century. As we have more and more records of events (say 1400 and beyond) we remember even more people and their accomplishments.

Yoyo,

Yes, plenty is remembered from that time (as I said). My point was that comparatively less is, and I would say by quite a bit. Perhaps these things are subjective though.

One of the problems with our time is that the most memorable things are being achieved by huge groups of people: the internet, technology design, etc. There are big changes, but only occasionally is there a big name to put with them.

Also, far *fewer* people are generally remembered from the 8th century than the 1st (either BC or AD). Do you seriously dispute this?

I don't judge them by the quantity in that century as the legend of the men from that century. Atilla the Hun is pretty universal. As is Mark Twain.

Atilla the Hun was not from the 8th century.

I vote me

I think the 20th century will be especially well-represented, not just because of the huge list of figures and events, but because the advent of record-able media via radio, film, and finally the Internet arrived then, which allows for a lot more preservation.

Authors...hmm...

I think Jane Austen and the Brontes will survive well enough. There will always be a market and desire for those sorts of romance stories, and theirs are among the best-known and beloved in the West, and get the added boost of being written by women and thus can be taught as crucial parts in the feminist tradition as well.

I'd like to think Dickens will survive as well...after Shakespeare, he's arguably the biggest figure in British literature. Victor Hugo, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy have good chances among 19th century writers as well.

A vital characteristic is that old problematic phrase "universality," I think. We don't live in Greece or Sumeria, but something in Homer and The Epic of Gilgamesh resonates today (ditto the Moses and Jesus stories, when viewed as literature.)

Love stories are pretty universal and timeless, so again, Austen and the Brontes, having cornered those, have a good chance...if I had to pick an American novel which might stand the test of 2000 years, I'd pick "The Great Gatsby" by Fitzgerald...a love story, and I think it tackles a pretty timeless theme, wanting what you cannot have, why and how you want that thing, trying to change yourself to attain it, how love and wealth are intertwined, etc. In a way, it and "Great Expectations" are like modern-day fairy tales wherein the getting of wealth is the incredible occurrence.

"Moby Dick" has plenty of arguably-universal themes as well, so that's another nod.

Discussions on the meaning of being will persist as long as we do, and Dostoevsky is a leader there, and could see Nietzsche lasting as well. Camus and Sartre provide a nice tag-team for existentialism as well.

The 1900s to 1950s produced so many great pieces of art, film, literature and music that I think that period will be well-represented.

Excluding Shakes (since he's too early to fit this time period) if I had to rank my other 5 favorite authors in terms of their likelihood of surviving that long (though I hope they all do, of course, and survive well) I would say:

1. Dostoevsky, for reasons given

2. T.S. Eliot, as he's arguably the best English language poet of that century (always helps to stand out that way) and his fixating on the past and previous traditions and myths could make him a pretty interesting figure...they'd be looking at mythic traditions through the prism of a writer who HIMSELF would be old enough to be nearly-mythical to them, in the way the Ancients are to us now.

3. Virginia Woolf, for her fantastic prose style, critically-acclaimed stories, and again, her place as a feminist writer could give her a boost over time and be taught in terms of her social as well as literary relevance.

4. George Bernard Shaw...already common knowledge of him has shrunk, as socialism/communism saw defeats in the 1980s and subsequent decade...that being said, he's a pretty prominent writer in that vein, the popularity of playwrights wax and wane, so he could make a comeback, especially if those economic policies did in later centuries, and "Pygmalion" is a classic of British/Irish Literature, and that alone might help his case--even if his other plays were forgotten, it'd take a lot of change for Anglo-American culture to forget Eliza Doolittle or Henry Higgins...it's 2000 years, so it might well happen, of course, but still, that's as good a shot as any he has.

5. D.H. Lawrence...I flip-flopped between Shaw and Lawrence here...but even though I think Lawrence's novels are fantastic and are rightly canonized in the Modernist and British tradition...2000 years from now...will we read them? There are universal themes dealt with in them, but not like in Austen, Dickens, or Dostoevsky. He's not the greatest poet of his language and time, like Eliot was. You couldn't argue for him as a social figure the way Woolf as a feminist might survive. And it's hard to imagine a social movement which could revive him the way a Leftist world might gravitate towards Shaw. He's still an amazing writer and I hope dearly that he'll survive, but if he does, it'll be on the basis of his great novels alone,--which admittedly isn't a bad way to go.

semck: Neither was Twain.

Y'all we are talking 2000 years from now. Expand your minds. Barely anyone from our century will be remembered. Name 5 people off the top of your head who lived in tbe period 101-200 AD. Maybe a Roman Emperor or two? Honestly I got no one.

Probably there will be one or two politicians from the entire 1900-2100 modern era that will be remembered broadly, and possible one or two thinkers, writers, or artists.

Most likely they will still remember Hitler. The US presidents are probably too numerous for them to remember any, and they didn't do much themselves to remember anyway. Probably Hitler and Einstein will be who is remembered from the 20th century. One or two more perhaps but that's about it.

From the 21st century; assuming it will be at least one person who is active today, I also am willing to bet on Elon Musk. It will be someone in tech.

Oh I forgot Neil Armstrong. He will be remembered probably until humans have spread to multiple stars and don't care about our moon anymore. Even then he may be remembered.

We can hardly even say about the 21st century since it is literally only just getting started. I can almost assure you though, that I can be up there. I haven't even started to be active, but my goals are really up there.

And just what are those Prado?

This is a fascinating discussion, it really is.

I think a lot of it depends on what the world looks like at that time. I would imagine that, ideally, we will be better of in the future, and have more leisure time. So perhaps sports and entertainment figures would be well-remembered? Maybe Pele, Maradona, Jordan, etc. are remembered as early greats in their sports. Maybe everyone likes comedy in the future, so Jerry Seinfeld is thought of like Shakespeare.

Hitler will probably be well known. Considering how big China and India are, I'm sure that Mao Zedong and Mahatma Gandhi will retain legacy, as well.

In 2000 years, all the revolution and change of today that makes us think we're special will look normal in the rearview - it will have been par for the course for some time. And so a lot of the "major" things happening today will be forgotten just as we have forgotten the endless wars between kings in medieval times.

All that will be left are scraps of pop culture, like Hitler, or someone else who will be more or less arbitrarily chosen. Then you have the great pioneers, which is why I say Armstrong and whoever gets to Mars first. That's probably about it, unless we make a really big scientific discovery in the next few decades - one to eclipse Einstein.

As far as artists - that's even more arbitrary, but I somehow doubt hardly any of our modern thinkers, writers, and so on, will be very well remembered, much less read. Oh sure, someone in 2000 years will have read Camus for example, but widely known? Don't count on it.