Leonard Cohen is Living Genius No. 58

[Born With The Gift Of A G]

Equal with Paul McCartney.....but 49 places below Philip Glass!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... ble128.xml

[jerry]

Osama beat out Leonard? What BS!

[Mr. Sunshine]

Although I cannot stomach Philip Glass (despite his recent association with our Leonard), I have to admire a list that ranks Matt Groening ahead of Stephen Hawking. Well done, leave it to Brits!

Cheers,

Rudolf

[cortez]

Okej. Now everybody take it easy.
Where did I fit in?

Cortez

[Maarten]

First of all:

58= Leonard Cohen (American) Poet & musician

???

Ah well, Britons... What do they know?

They know how to look important (and to appear smart)... :

British geniuses feature heavily in a recent list that notes the greatest living thinkers of our time - proportionately more than any other country.

But:

The company emailed 4,000 Britons this summer and asked them to nominate up to 10 living people who they considered geniuses.

That's not really a neutral way of measuring your own importance in the world...

And the worst part of it all: nobody mentions any Belgians!

D-mn!

Maarten

[Born With The Gift Of A G]

That's because the only Belgian genius is dead: Rene Magritte!

[cortez]

i agree. Magritte was a genius.
cortez

[John Etherington]

Good grief! Morrisey, yet no Bob Dylan! Richard bleedin' Dawkins above the Dalai Lama! Ah well, at least Leonard and Brian Wilson are in the top fifty.

All good things, John E

[John Etherington]

My mistake...should have said "top sixty". I'm glad that Tim Berners-Lee is near the top.

[hydriot]

Agreed, John. It is very encouraging to see Tim Berners-Lee in first equal place in that list. What makes him stand out is that he is as modest about his achievements in his field as Leonard is in his. So it is good that ordinary people are at last giving both thinkers the recognition they deserve.

My son has just started his Physics degree course at the university where, I have discovered, Tim Berners-Lee is Visiting Professor in Electronics! I am green with envy. I've warned my son I may just sneak into the back of the lecture hall when that giant of our times is teaching!

Imagine: if Tim Berners-Lee had patented his invention, today he'd make Bill Gates look a pauper.

[Paula]

Well Leonard got 8 votes the leader only got 27

I wonder if the people polled were given names to choose from some of these names seem a little out of place with what would immediately spring to mind in the average person.

I have no idea who I would plump for if I was given free range.

I agree with you Hydriot Tim Berners-Lee has got to be one of the greatest living men. Although some would think he was the devil incarnate for his invention

[~greg]

That's because the only Belgian genius is dead: Rene Magritte!

...or imaginary (Hercule Poirot).

(about Magritte,
- When i quit smoking, I hung up my pipe.
I attached it to a canvas with the words:
"this is not a picture of a pipe".

(i'd post a picture of it here, if i knew know what to call it.))

[loulou]

hehe I think I was actually polled on this survey earlier in the year (I think there were no set options) and remember nominating

the master (of course) and Brian Eno

and I think David Lynch, Dalai Lama, Lee Hazlewood (living then, may he rest in peace), David Bowie, Wong Kar-Wai