The Wisdom of the Smart Crowd

We've polled the FP 100 to offer you cutting-edge thinking on everything from what's ahead in 2010 to what they're reading now. Here, the breakdown of who's who on our list.
The List The FP Survey Take the Survey 100 Top Global Thinkers

DECEMBER 2009

The world would be a better place if we listened to what one person's ideas?

Nominees (in alphabetical order): Karen Armstrong, Ban Ki-Moon, Isaiah Berlin, Tony Blair, Stuart Brand, Bill Clinton, Dalai Lama, Mohandas Gandhi, Dan Gilbert, Al Gore, James Hansen, Friedrich Von Hayek, Samuel Huntington, Jesus, Paul Kagame, Fred Kagan, Daniel Kahneman, Martin Luther King Jr., Nicholas Kristof, Angela Merkel, Thomas S. Monson, Isaac Newton, Barack Obama, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Kevin Rudd, Amartya Sen, Abdol Karim Soroush, Irwin Stelzer, Joseph Stiglitz, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Alexis de Tocqueville, Desmond Tutu, Washington Post editorials, Muhammad Yunus

Selected answers:

"I'd say it will be better if we listen to many people's ideas and try to evaluate their worth"

"Is this a trick question?"

"Mine!"

"Jesus"

"Jesus Christ (but ignore his followers)."

"Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, with their book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Fortunately, Obama has Cass Sunstein on his staff."

BY VICTORIA WILL for FP

 SUBJECTS:
 

BEINGTHERE

8:44 AM ET

December 1, 2009

Obama, Gates fortunate to have Petraeus

This top general has the ears and eyes of the world. He also has the intellectual ability and on-the-ground knowledge to improve the AFPAK situation - if he can keep the attention of the president and defense sec. Persistent rumors of a Petraeus presidential run probably do not benefit his military career or the USA's opportunities to better the situation.

 

SQUEEDLE

3:23 PM ET

December 21, 2009

Get a new FP 100

Frankly, I'm not impressed by the answers of your FP 100. They show some real ignorance of world affairs, obvious ideological bias, and a clear focus on immediate issues at the expense of important ones. Of your "selected answers," I found not one thoughtful, wise, insightful response.

Also the question about the "most dangerous country in the world" can be interpreted one of two ways, and that shows in the answers. Did you mean, most dangerous to others, or most dangerous to live in?