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Time Person of the Year 2013

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Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#61

Post by narrowingorbits »

staticelf wrote: post #53
r0h1n wrote: post #14

For crying out loud! What difference has the Pope made to the world (and do remember, the world does include non-Christian countries...or roughly 5 billion out of 7 billion people...and I'm not even getting into Catholics vs. non-Catholics here). Colour me cynical, but any publication that declares anyone other than Edward Snowden as the Person of the Year in 2013 has to have some pretty BIG reasons for doing so. And…

I agree with you. Is HN being attacked by religious crazy people? The pope won't do shit. Seriously, he is more insignificant than any random educated citizen.

> Seriously, he is more insignificant than any random educated citizen

Wow. You're really living in your own little bubble.

Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#62

Post by yapcguy »

skwirl wrote: post #48
philtar wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure Snowden opened up a dialog when it comes to privacy etc. and that's a big deal for us because we live on the internet. This pope however is so transformational he could seriously do a lot to bring peace to the world. Potential wise, this guy trumps Snowden on every level. Take a moment to think about how powerful this guy really is. P.S I'm muslim.

Exactly. If your life is lived online, especially in the tech community echo chamber, Snowden is going to mean a lot more to you than he does to most people. There are 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. I attended Catholic church growing up, and the pope has a lot of influence on Catholics. Many of these people have portraits of the pope (at the time it was John Paul II) in central areas of their homes. If you aren'…

> The topic is humility, compassion, and charity. When is the last time these topics really had a globally influential champion?

Er, since the last pope?!

What makes this pope special from the others?

Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#63

Post by StavrosK »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #35
StavrosK wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Person of the year 2013" isn't "person we're hoping will make a difference in 2014", it's "person who has made a difference". The pope can pretty much do nothing that will affect me, but the bullshit the NSA pulls affect me every day.

>> "The pope can pretty much do nothing that will affect me, but the bullshit the NSA pulls affect me every day." So Time should have checked with you first? I don't really care who they voted as person of the year (it really doesn't matter) but being annoyed they picked someone who doesn't effect you (but can effect millions of others) is pretty dumb and selfish reasoning.

Well, I was either using myself as a data point, or I meant that, since the pope can't affect me specifically, Time shouldn't have chosen him.

I'm glad you picked the more reasonable of the two options.

Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#64

Post by phryk »

dak1 wrote: post #47
philtar wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure Snowden opened up a dialog when it comes to privacy etc. and that's a big deal for us because we live on the internet. This pope however is so transformational he could seriously do a lot to bring peace to the world. Potential wise, this guy trumps Snowden on every level. Take a moment to think about how powerful this guy really is. P.S I'm muslim.

Agreed. When I saw the link on Hacker News, my gut reaction was that it was probably Snowden; however, I have to say I think the Pope was the far better choice (and I'm an atheist). He's the first Pope from what is often called the Global South, and really brings a different perspective and emphasis on cultural and economic issues that could have massive implications for the entire world (whether you're Christian, Mu…

He's the first Pope from what is often called the Global South, and really brings a different perspective […]

Oh, you mean like Obama really brought a different perspective as the first black President of the USA?

Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#65

Post by antoko »

jheriko wrote: post #41
r0h1n wrote: post #14

For crying out loud! What difference has the Pope made to the world (and do remember, the world does include non-Christian countries...or roughly 5 billion out of 7 billion people...and I'm not even getting into Catholics vs. non-Catholics here). Colour me cynical, but any publication that declares anyone other than Edward Snowden as the Person of the Year in 2013 has to have some pretty BIG reasons for doing so. And…

my reason: he only enlightened very naive people with massive blinkers on their vision. although i'm inclined to agree he is a very good choice...

This comment is so far away from the parent I can no longer remember who the "he" is referencing. I like that I can turn this both ways and have it be snowden or the pope.

Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#66

Post by andrewcooke »

yapcguy wrote: post #62
skwirl wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. If your life is lived online, especially in the tech community echo chamber, Snowden is going to mean a lot more to you than he does to most people. There are 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. I attended Catholic church growing up, and the pope has a lot of influence on Catholics. Many of these people have portraits of the pope (at the time it was John Paul II) in central areas of their homes. If you aren'…

> The topic is humility, compassion, and charity. When is the last time these topics really had a globally influential champion? Er, since the last pope?! What makes this pope special from the others?

he's significantly more liberal. that is the whole point, really. maybe you should read the article?

Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#67

Post by r0h1n »

philtar wrote: post #24
r0h1n wrote: post #14

For crying out loud! What difference has the Pope made to the world (and do remember, the world does include non-Christian countries...or roughly 5 billion out of 7 billion people...and I'm not even getting into Catholics vs. non-Catholics here). Colour me cynical, but any publication that declares anyone other than Edward Snowden as the Person of the Year in 2013 has to have some pretty BIG reasons for doing so. And…

Sure Snowden opened up a dialog when it comes to privacy etc. and that's a big deal for us because we live on the internet. This pope however is so transformational he could seriously do a lot to bring peace to the world. Potential wise, this guy trumps Snowden on every level. Take a moment to think about how powerful this guy really is. P.S I'm muslim.

I'll take you up on your assertions.

> "This pope however is so transformational he could seriously do a lot to bring peace to the world"

Could, maybe. But what has he achieved in 2013?

> "Potential wise, this guy trumps Snowden on every level."

But the award isn't for "potential", is it? Even if it were, the potential comes with the job title, so it's not something he can lay claim to.

> "Take a moment to think about how powerful this guy really is."

I did, really. I still can't think of a reason he won.

P.S. I don't think our religion is under discussion here, but FWIW I'm Hindu.

Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#68

Post by sys_argv »

kohanz wrote: post #50
kamaal wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Take a moment to think about how powerful this guy really is. Symbolically yes. But the world has moved on. Power these days comes in the form of a well developed economy, powerful armies, weapons, lobbies etc. Spiritual power by and large means nothing in the current world. Its all power, wealth and interests that move around them.

Which of the above factors did Nelson Mandela possess?

Beyond the symbolic stature that he possessed, what 'power' did he have?

Re: Time Person of the Year 2013

#69

Post by andrewcooke »

kamaal wrote: post #42
philtar wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure Snowden opened up a dialog when it comes to privacy etc. and that's a big deal for us because we live on the internet. This pope however is so transformational he could seriously do a lot to bring peace to the world. Potential wise, this guy trumps Snowden on every level. Take a moment to think about how powerful this guy really is. P.S I'm muslim.

>>Take a moment to think about how powerful this guy really is. Symbolically yes. But the world has moved on. Power these days comes in the form of a well developed economy, powerful armies, weapons, lobbies etc. Spiritual power by and large means nothing in the current world. Its all power, wealth and interests that move around them.

where i live abortion, in any form, is still illegal.

this guy certainly does have power over many people.

if you had a hugely successful campaigner in the usa that transformed the debate over abortion there, don't you think that would make news? this guy has the same potential, and that's just one small aspect, here in chile.

and anyway, it is not about power. snowden has very little power, but we would all (well most of us) appreciate it if he had won.

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