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[AAequal]

Alexandre  Grothendieck:

Grothendieck has done brilliant work in several areas of mathematics including number theory, geometry, topology, and functional analysis, but especially in the fields of algebraic geometry and category theory, both of which he revolutionized. He is most famous for his methods to unify different branches of mathematics, for example using algebraic geometry in number theory. Grothendieck is considered a master of abstraction, rigor and presentation. He has produced many important and deep results in homological algebra, most notably his etale cohomology. With these new methods, Grothendieck and his famous student Pierre Deligne were able to prove the Weil Conjectures. Grothendieck also developed the theory of sheafs, invented the theory of schemes, generalized the Riemann-Roch Theorem to revolutionize K-theory, developed Grothendieck categories, crystalline cohomology, infinity-stacks and more. The guiding principle behind much of Grothendieck's work has been Topos Theory, which he invented to harness the methods of topology. These methods and results have redirected several diverse branches of modern mathematics including number theory, algebraic topology, and representation theory.
Grothendieck's radical religious and political philosophies led him to retire from public life while still in his prime, but he is widely considered the greatest mathematician of the 20th century, and is sometimes called one of the greatest mathematical geniuses ever.

He had principles and was not afraid to stand for them I mean, guy was giving lectures in Vietnam in the middle of bombings

 

[MYE]

Haha i was gonna say Carl Sagan, then i looked at the very first. Pic in this thread and

 

[wormstrangler]

Shane McConkey.

Big mountain freeskiing/BASE jumping, all round great guy whose main goal was to bring fun back to skiing and make other people laugh.

Even if you don't like skiing you should watch this movie: http://unofficialnetworks.com/gnar/

 

[RDreamer]

Steven Wilson - Steven Wilson is perhaps one of the most prolific musicians of our time. I find his work ethic and attitude about his art insanely inspiring. The guy's an absolute workaholic and slave to his muse. He has so many completely different projects that seem to challenge him (and his listeners) in completely different ways.

 

[Pepto]

 

[Atramental]

I need to add some more people to this list:

 

[PetriP-TNT]

All hail Cardiel

 

[Doffen]

Olav Thon - A Norwegian real estate developer and billionaire.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates

Thor heyerdahl - Kon-Tiki expedition.

And family members of course.

 

[Vicetrailia]

You know it's funny that I haven't found anyone to really look up to--to the point that I want to follow their path and be like them.

Obviouly MLK is a hero that I greatly admire. The type of person that I am looking for ahead of him and others that I admire, I probably haven't learned about them yet.

 

[Perfect Blue]

 

[Yaboosh]

Vinnie Cilurzo - Owner and brewmaster of Russian River Brewing Company. How he does what he does with the consistency that he does it is amazing to me, and is someone I constantly look to for inspiration.

 

[astroturfing]

Johan Venninen.

not much information about him in english out there, but he was a spectacularly awesome human being. early in his life he had suffered two separate incidents that made him completely blind, yet he still lived alone in a cabin in the forest until he died at 99 years old. that's not the most amazing part though, it's what he did all that time... he built all kinds of equipment to help himself do things. he used explosives to make a huge cellar for himself (a project that took him years), went out fishing alone in the open seas (remember he's blind...), grew food for himself etc etc. and he never complained or asked for anyone's help, had all the humility a person can have and just an overall attitude towards life that everyone could learn something from. i wish someday i could be 1/10th of the man he was...

the Finnish language documentaries about him are amazing and truly affected me like nothing else. i wish there were subtitled versions but i don't think there are :/

 

[noah111]

Varying reasons with an over-arching theme of progression and forward thinking.

Great picks, i'm a fan of all of them.

 

[Bowdz]

Eugene Kranz

John Young

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtWpeZCIDjU&feature=related

Eileen Collins

Elon Musk

Lt. Michael Murphy

I will also echo the likes of:
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Christopher Hitchens
- Richard Feynman
- Carl Sagan

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Norman Borlaug,
the man who saved more human lives than anyone else in history, has died at age 95. Borlaug was the Father of the Green Revolution, the dramatic improvement in agricultural productivity that swept the globe in the 1960s. For spearheading this achievement, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.

 

[Jay Sosa]

I usually dislike overly religious people cause most of the time they're all talk (mixed with lots of crazy ideas and viewpoints), but you have to respect a young dude that spends his off season in a leper colony.

Imho the greatest producer ever, and such a nice and humble guy.

I wouldn't call them 'my heroes' but they're certainly inspiring.

 

[Soma]

The one that comes immediately to mind is Fred Rogers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEuEUQIP3Q

 

[Atolm]

Vicente Ferrer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Ferrer_Moncho

 

[Tuck]

Neil de Grasse Tyson.

He's cool, and his thoughts on Space are great. I've learned a lot from him.

 

[NaughtyPrawn]

It was a joke post, but if I had to choose it would probably be these two.

I was fortunate enough to read his autobiography while visiting South Africa. Although I'm sure he is not as heroic as he potrayed himself in that book, he is still a hero for the modern world. The guy was in prison for decades but came out not bitter but appreciative of the new world. He is a hero for the entire planet.

I've met him and shook is hand Great experience!

 

[dinazimmerman]

von Neumann = GOAT

 

[TheKaeptain]

My list:
Martin Luther King Jr.

Jim Henson

D.W. Griffith

François Truffaut

Jean-Pierre Melville

Akira Kurosawa

John Cassavetes

Jackie Chan

John Ford

Martin Scorsese

Sam Peckinpah

Honorable mentions:
Vincent Van Gogh
Wong Kar Wai
Carl Sagan
Neil Degrasse Tyson
Sir Isaac Newton

 

[Bombadil]

:/

J.K. Rowling

Joseph Heller

J.R.R. Tolkien

Christopher Paolini

Just to be clear, I don't like Paolini's work but I admire him because he started writing at a young age and it takes a lot of dedication to do that.

I aspire to be a writer as well, so most of my heroes are novelists.

 

[Platy]

Michel Gondry

The most creative artistic mind of our generation

Neil Gaiman

and
Douglas Adams

Every word those 2 writes ever wrote touched me deeply in lots of diferent ways.

Those are the basics ... but this list would not be complete without :

Jim Henson

George Carlin

And the cartoonists Liniers (argentina), Bill Waterson (USA) and Laerte (Brazil)

The Wachowski Brothers.

Would not that be now The Wachowski Siblings ?

 

[umop_3pisdn]

Well, I'm a Buddhist, so the foremost one must be pretty obvious:

1. Gautama Buddha

It's hard knowing exactly how close the suttas in the Pali Canon are to the original oral teachings, but it's largely a profound appreciation for the Dhamma and seeing inspiration in the person that realized it independently for himself. Not only does the Dhamma succeed at providing what I think is the most complete or ultimate form of existential fulfillment (Nibbana, pertaining more to monks and nuns), but it equally addresses the improvement of life for all people (laity, homeowners, etc) from such a broad range of subjects as finances/livelihood, civil conduct, governance, etc, all through a form of experiential empiricism/phenomenology that makes it uniquely accomplished among other religious and philosophical systems with similar aims.

2. William Blake

This guy is pretty much who I think of when I hear the word 'luminary'. A poet, artist, and mystic; when I was a mystic I drew much of my inspiration from the ideas and views of his that I had come across in print (also Heri Bergson's). In terms of the roles played by visionaries or those primarily directed by their creativity, if I envisioned such a path for myself (as once I had), I would most like to take after him.

 

[Fracas]

Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr, John Lennon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Teddy Roosevelt. Probably a few more I'm forgetting.

 

[Cranzor]

Neil deGrasse is definitely my number one. I'd also say Louis CK and Hayao Miyazaki.

 

[Para bailar La Bomba]

The high standards I set myself were mostly attributable to this man:

(laugh all you like)

 

[FairyD]

Socrates/Plato/Aristotle
Alexander the great
Julius ceasar
Archimedes
Leonardo da Vinci
Mechealangelo
Newton
Einstein
Glenn Gould
Dr dre
Descartes
Stanley Kubrick
Marcel Duchamp
Saladin
Craig Thompson
Hemmingway
Hunter s Thompson
Caravaggio
Gandhi

 

[Evolved1]

Darwin

George Orwell

Stephen Crane

Emily Dickinson

Carl Sagan
Richard Dawkins
Chris Hitchens
Barry Sanders

 

[bengraven]

I like people who are dedicated to their craft, intelligent and yet humble. I love down to Earth people who don't let the pressure of their life get to them. These are the people I aspire to be when I finally get into my career.

Neil Gaiman and Stephen Fry are people who inspire me to embrace intelligence and yet stay humble and be kind and polite to people. If I'm getting unecessarily angry at someone, especially in real life but including NeoGAF, I try and think of what Stephen Fry would do.

Other famous people who I admire:

Carl Sagan
George Carlin
Douglas Adams
Bill Hicks
Kevin Smith
Stephen King
Jon Stewart
Anne Rice
Clint Eastwood
Notch


Non-famous people I admire:

My son. Four years old, has a heart condition, doesn't let it drag him down. Already drawing and creating things a couple years earlier than I did. Only one or two mean moments in his entire life. A quiet kid who truly loves his friends and is very giving to kids his own age.

A really really good kid and I'm proud he's mine.

 

[News Bot]

Oscar Wilde

Nikola Tesla

George Carlin

Mark Twain

Hunter S. Thompson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Albert Göring

Ernest Hemingway

Ian Fleming

...so much more.

 

[Prologue]

My dear old mama. Hard working women. Don't know where she gets the energy from.