Do ideas matter and why?

I asked ChatGPT for a list of the 10 most influential philosophers. Got 10 names of Western philosophers. Not happy, asked for a list of 10 most influential thinkers. Some improvement: the list now included Jesus and Buddha. No scientists nor inventors though. After a few more tries I ended up with the following prompt:

“Could you give me a list of 10 authors of the ideas with the most transformative power on human civilisation in all the major areas of human activity -philosophy, ethics, politics, economics, science, technology, warfare”

Asked the question 3 different Large Langue Models in 3 languages.

I was somewhat disappointed that Nicolaus Copernicus has not made the first 10 and only on one of those lists we have somebody, Alan Turing, who could be described as an inventor. Where is Johannes Guttenberg, James Watt and Thomas Edison? Are there other authors of transformative ideas who should have, in your opinion, make the list? Why?

The “Grok – German” list seems to be more biased towards scientific ideas and is the only one including a theorist of war. More “to the earth” stuff. This made me question whether we value ideas because of their

• impact on our view of the world,
• understanding how the nature works
• defining how we relate to each other
• practical impact something else?

Join us to discuss why and whether certain thinkers and ideas made the list, whether we can agree a basis for deciding how to rank them, and more.

Anyone can attend this session. No experience in philosophy or knowledge of the subject is required in advance. Just come along and enjoy. Our events use the the 4Cs of community philosophy:

• Caring for others, making space for their contributions
• Collaborating to get a better mutual understanding rather than scoring points
• Critically assessing what we say, clarifying what is meant and asking what reasons support assertions
• Creatively coming up with alternative perspectives, rather than dogmatically sticking to our initial positions

We welcome everyone of a wide range of ages, social and educational backgrounds etc. Don't worry if you don't have a qualification in philosophy - almost no-one does. Occasionally, attendees will be asked to watch, read or listen to a short piece of material in advance of the session (as the 'stimulus' for discussion), but this will be minimal and will be made clear in the description of the session.