The Most Famous Person Alive

[senecadawg2]

As a futbal fan, I certainly know who Messi is. However, I'm not even sure Messi is the most popular person in sports...

[jsem]

I cannot believe there are so MANY that haven't heard of Messi in this thread. I just can't wrap my head around it...

The most famous person alive would almost certainly be someone everyone in this thread has heard of.

Well, in that case, we all know the most famous person alive is Kevin Moore.

[eric42434224]

I honestly forgot MJ was dead 

Did he just say MJ was dead?

[snapple]

"several people in this thread"

well, glad we have the whole world in this thread.

If he's not even the most famous person in this thread there is literally no chance whatsoever that he's the most famous person alive in the world.

SSS

[robwebster]

Well Rob, I seriously doubt that Western society with access to technology and information represents even 50% of the world.

Yes! That's kind of my point. Proximity, technology, and I'm living in a country where male football's the most dominant sport - all that stuff should increase our chances of knowing who Messi is well above the global average, and despite that there are clearly huge swathes of us who don't have a clue. If we've not all heard of him, what chance does the wider world have, where information isn't physically capable of travelling that fast?

"several people in this thread"

well, glad we have the whole world in this thread.

If he's not even the most famous person in this thread there is literally no chance whatsoever that he's the most famous person alive in the world.

SSS

https://www.acronymfinder.com/Slang/SSS.html

I feel like I'm missing something, p'raps?

[Nekov]

I think that you need to be from a certain social class in order to care about politics, even more about international politics.

But the US president is shown all the time on the internet and on TV all over the world, and whether you care for politics, you're going to be exposed to him, unless you're completely oblivious to all forms of media, in which case the same applies to anybody else mentioned here. I'm not from the US, and I don't care about politics, let alone politics in other countries, and I can't imagine anyone in this country not knowing who he is.

You say around the world just because it happens in Australia. In my country that doesn't happen and you are considering that most of the people in the world have access to a TV and the internet which I don't think is the case.

Let's say not Messi but it has to be a sport player and here is the reason why. If people have access to internet and TV then they are probably exposed to sports at some point in their daily life. For people that don't, sports is normally the way they use to kill boredom and that usually makes it become an interest to those people which will probably make them more exposed to sports. And aside from that, there are lots of countries that are only known because of their sport players which makes their people feel proud that they have someone that can put their name in the map and that makes them be more interested in that person and the sport he plays. Even in Europe where there's tons of 1st world countries they adore sport players.
So, a kid from let's say Ivory Coast who worships Didier Drogba because he's the best player they've ever had probably has heard about Beckham or Messi while it's not that likely that he knows who Obama or the Queen of England are.

[snapple]

Sorry, I use it on a baseball forum a lot. SSS=small sample size.

[CrimsonSunrise]

Guys...isn't it obvious???  May not be the most liked....but...

George Lucas 

[robwebster]

Sorry, I use it on a baseball forum a lot. SSS=small sample size.

That's cool!

I'd contend, though, that if someone's the most famous person on Earth, it should be very difficult to find someone who's not heard of them. And if we've already found eight within such a tiny - if admittedly unrepresentative - sample size, what are the odds that we've stumbled onto a profoundly unique corner of the internet?

It's like searching for traces of life on Mars. If one planet in an unimaginably vast universe has life on it, we have no idea whether it's the only one or not. It might be a freak - a tiny, cosmic accident, an almost impossible thing that just happened to occur somewhere. If we find the planet next door has life, too, then there's no way we're alone.

What this thread proves - or very heavily implies, despite its small sample size - is that you don't have to go far to find someone who doesn't know who Lionel Messi is.

Let's say not Messi but it has to be a sport player and here is the reason why. If people have access to internet and TV then they are probably exposed to sports at some point in their daily life. For people that don't, sports is normally the way they use to kill boredom and that usually makes it become an interest to those people which will probably make them more exposed to sports. And aside from that, there are lots of countries that are only known because of their sport players which makes their people feel proud that they have someone that can put their name in the map and that makes them be more interested in that person and the sport he plays. Even in Europe where there's tons of 1st world countries they adore sport players.
So, a kid from let's say Ivory Coast who worships Didier Drogba because he's the best player they've ever had probably has heard about Beckham or Messi while it's not that likely that he knows who Obama or the Queen of England are.

Thing is - and this is a sincere question, because I don't know how it applies to the broader globe - when you say "people," do you mean "men?" Because men's football is very freely accessible. Women's football, not so much.

[robwebster]

Also! With regard to the thread question - this might be a stupid guess... but would the Dalai Lama be a shout?

[BlobVanDam]

I think that you need to be from a certain social class in order to care about politics, even more about international politics.

But the US president is shown all the time on the internet and on TV all over the world, and whether you care for politics, you're going to be exposed to him, unless you're completely oblivious to all forms of media, in which case the same applies to anybody else mentioned here. I'm not from the US, and I don't care about politics, let alone politics in other countries, and I can't imagine anyone in this country not knowing who he is.

You say around the world just because it happens in Australia. In my country that doesn't happen and you are considering that most of the people in the world have access to a TV and the internet which I don't think is the case.

Let's say not Messi but it has to be a sport player and here is the reason why. If people have access to internet and TV then they are probably exposed to sports at some point in their daily life. For people that don't, sports is normally the way they use to kill boredom and that usually makes it become an interest to those people which will probably make them more exposed to sports. And aside from that, there are lots of countries that are only known because of their sport players which makes their people feel proud that they have someone that can put their name in the map and that makes them be more interested in that person and the sport he plays. Even in Europe where there's tons of 1st world countries they adore sport players.
So, a kid from let's say Ivory Coast who worships Didier Drogba because he's the best player they've ever had probably has heard about Beckham or Messi while it's not that likely that he knows who Obama or the Queen of England are.

But you're talking one guy from a whole team in one particular sport. Why would I know this one specific guy if I was outside of the country/s that plays that sport, and didn't watch that sport? You're jumping from "most people like sport" to the most popular person in the world therefore being one specific person from one particular sport, albeit the most popular sport.
I don't know why you're discussing people without TV and internet, because they're probably not going to know any of these people, especially someone who only plays a sport.
I do not agree that the most popular person in the world is going to be a sports person at all, and I think you're underselling the exposure of a major world figure.

[Nekov]

@Blob: I'm saying that because I live in a third world country and I can tell you what I see happens with people that don't have access to the media all the time. I'm sure more people here know who Beckham is than who Obama is. And why one player from one team? In the case of Messi because he is considered to be the best player at the moment and people are already discussing whether or not he is the best player in the history of the sport and as you well said it's the most popular sport in the world. Even in India where they don't really follow football they got a stadium full of people when Argentina went there to play a friendly match against Venezuela.

[snapple]

(I'm arguing Messi because his fans are 100% rabid and there is no use in arguing back)

[wkiml]

Bill Gates

[Dr. DTVT]

@ everyone saying Messi - Messi isn't even the most famous SOCCER PLAYER.  I guarantee you that Pele and David Beckham are more well known, even if both are retired.  Pele made soccer more popular, and made non-sports news.  If you ask people of my generation who Pele is, even those who don't follow sports at all will know who he is.  Same with David Beckham - and all you failtards seemed to ignore my last post.  David is married to a famous person in the entertainment industry, and he his name is in a major Hollywood movie.

I'm going to lean toward the Pope now that other people mention it.

[Nekov]

@ everyone saying Messi - Messi isn't even the most famous SOCCER PLAYER.  I guarantee you that Pele and David Beckham are more well known, even if both are retired.  Pele made soccer more popular, and made non-sports news.  If you ask people of my generation who Pele is, even those who don't follow sports at all will know who he is.  Same with David Beckham - and all you failtards seemed to ignore my last post.  David is married to a famous person in the entertainment industry, and he his name is in a major Hollywood movie.

I'm going to lean toward the Pope now that other people mention it.

Sorry for not mentioning your comment. Regarding Beckham and Hollywood, as I said before not everyone is exposed to movies and music as much as they are exposed to the pure sport.
As for Pele, he was very well known at the time and he still is to a certain extent but I still believe that worldwide Messi is more renown nowadays.

[theseoafs]

^Yeah, I've heard of Pele and Beckham, even if I couldn't pick them out of a lineup.

[Sigz]

Add another tally under the 'has no idea who the fuck Messi is' category.

Obama and The Queen are the two most reasonable answers. Sure, plenty of people pay no attention to politics, but like Fluffy said, there are five year olds in Taiwan who know who he is. His visibility extends far outside of the bubble of people who are politically informed.

[Implode]

@ everyone saying Messi - Messi isn't even the most famous SOCCER PLAYER.  I guarantee you that Pele and David Beckham are more well known, even if both are retired.  Pele made soccer more popular, and made non-sports news.  If you ask people of my generation who Pele is, even those who don't follow sports at all will know who he is.  Same with David Beckham - and all you failtards seemed to ignore my last post.  David is married to a famous person in the entertainment industry, and he his name is in a major Hollywood movie.

I'm going to lean toward the Pope now that other people mention it.

Right. I don't follow any sports at all, and even though the rest of my family does, they also don't like soccer/football. I may not know Messi, but even I've heard of Pele.

That said, I'll say again: Obama, the Queen, the Pope, maybe the Dalai Lama.

[Jaffa]

not everyone is exposed to movies and music as much as they are exposed to the pure sport.

If they aren't exposed to media, then the only way for them to have heard of a specific sports player is by word of mouth. 

Word of mouth is also a perfectly reasonable way for them to have heard of other people mentioned in this thread, like Obama and the Queen. 

[lonestar]

Just to throw a name out there, how about Madonna. Long term, succesful pop star with international acclaim and appeal. She's gotta be pretty high on the list.

[Implode]

I think Madonna's fame is dying out. I bet she won't be that famous in another generation or so.

Then again, neither will Obama.

[Dr. DTVT]

Let me simplify this.  Soccer fans know Pele, Beckham, and Messi.
Casual sports fans Pele and Beckham.

People who don't care about soccer, but followed pop culture probably heard of Beckham either through being married to Posh, his commericals, or the fact that there is a movie called "Bend It Like Beckham"

ergo, Beckham > Messi.

like I said, I'm not arguing he's the most famous, just the most famous soccer player.

[lonestar]

I think Madonna's fame is dying out. I bet she won't be that famous in another generation or so.

Then again, neither will Obama.

True, but she does have two generations of fame behind her. Not quite MJ levels, but for a pop star, I would put her at a possible second.

[Implode]

Yeah. Narrowing it down to the most popular pop star, I'd agree.

[Kotowboy]

James Cameron




....... Seriously

For shittiest director?

Michael Bay

Joel Schumacher

McG

M. Night Shyalmalan.


None of these people ever made Terminator, The Abyss, Terminator 2 or True Lies.

[ariich]

Anybody suggesting Messi must be out of their mind.

Why? He is the most popular sports player nowadays. He even got named the most influential person in 2012 by Time magazine. The thing about sports it that it goes beyond countries, language, social class or age. I doubt there are lots of kids around the world that are interested in politics enough to know who Obama is.

You don't need to care about politics to know who Obama is. If you don't care about soccer, you very likely don't know who Messi is. We've already had several people in this thread who have never even heard of Messi, including myself.
But I can't imagine any level of disinterest in politics would avoid being familiar with Obama. I can't imagine any level of disinterest in religion would make you oblivious to the Pope. And nobody cares about the royal family, but everyone knows the Queen. It's only logical to me that a sports person is not going to be as well known as someone in those kinds of positions of real power and fame.

I think that you need to be from a certain social class in order to care about politics, even more about international politics. And as far as the Pope, I'd say there are lots of people that don't even know about Christianity. I understand and agree that there's a lot of people that are not into sports and even so lots of them don't care about football but for everyone we mention there is a very good argument on why they could be unknown.

I think you're missing the point - an interest in politics is irrelevant. People like the Queen or the US President are ALL over the world, and all over the news, and whether you have any interest in it or not, you're aware of them. Messi is such a complete unknown in comparison, even Beckham is vastly more famous than him and I'd say he's still nowhere near the others.

[rumborak]

On my trip around the world I met a lot of people who hadn't heard of a lot of things. But even in the remotest point on Earth I was pretty damn sure they knew who Obama is. Messi is an insignificant blip. As an example, essentially none of India gives a rat's ass about football. They love cricket, and that's what they know.

rumborak

[RuRoRul]

I asked a few people today who they thought the most famous living person in the world might be. Most guessed Obama (or George Bush), at least half didn't know who Messi was (or had "Oh yeah, I remember the name now" when I told them). Yeah, "That's just a handful of people in the UK" and "a bunch of people on a DT forum" who didn't know who he was. But what percentage of a small sample size that have never heard of someone does it take to rule them out as the most famous person in the world. Especially when no one has any examples of people who have never heard of other suggestions (Obama, The Queen, The Pope) etc. and it's difficult to imagine even hypothetical large groups of people who will have heard of one (Messi) without having heard of the other (Obama).

[Jaffa]

How is the word Messi pronounced?

[Nic35]

Let me simplify this.  Soccer fans know Pele, Beckham, and Messi.
Casual sports fans Pele and Beckham.

People who don't care about soccer, but followed pop culture probably heard of Beckham either through being married to Posh, his commericals, or the fact that there is a movie called "Bend It Like Beckham"

ergo, Beckham > Messi.

like I said, I'm not arguing he's the most famous, just the most famous soccer player.

I'm pretty sure Christiano Ronaldo is the most famous football player.

But, the more I think about it, the more I think Obama is the most famous person in the world. And I guess the next US president will be too. They are the most powerful men in the world, thus they are the most famous.

[Fuzzboy]

How is the word Messi pronounced?

Messy. Like "tom's room is messy"

[jammindude]

Now BECKHAM I've heard of.   And I remember watching Pele play.  (even though he was at the tail end of his career)

I know some of my local Seattle Sounders.   I remember that red headed guy that played for the US team that got all that press...like...12 years ago or so.  The one that looked like the lead singer of the Spin Doctors. 

Still never heard of Messy...

[Jaffa]

How is the word Messi pronounced?

Messy. Like "tom's room is messy"

Alright, thanks.  That was my guess, but I plan on asking a few people if they've heard of him, and I didn't want to be pronouncing it messy if it was supposed to be something else. 

[Fluffy Lothario]

But, the more I think about it, the more I think Obama is the most famous person in the world. And I guess the next US president will be too. They are the most powerful men in the world, thus they are the most famous.

I feel like Obama would be slightly more famous than many US presidents have been in the past though, because of the circumstances and global situation and so on at the time of his election.