Notable Thinkers and Polymaths

Users nominate historical and contemporary figures such as Linus Torvalds, Elon Musk, Paul Graham, and scientists like Einstein as examples of influential thinkers, polymaths, or high-achievers fitting a list or criterion from the parent post.

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Keywords

PG McCarthy EDIT TechCrunch ESR list paul graham graham come mind torvalds paul peter elon peter thiel stallman

Sample Comments

skeezyboy Aug 6, 2025 View on HN

umm, linus torvalds, richard stallman, elon musk to name a few

tomrod Sep 16, 2018 View on HN

Please name some individuals that come to mind.

akavi Jul 4, 2013 View on HN

Off the top of my head, Aaron Schwartz, Dennis Ritchie, and Steve Jobs also merited it.

selfhifive Aug 21, 2022 View on HN

Edsger Dijkstra, Cal Newport, and Charlie Munger.

miguelrochefort Jan 25, 2018 View on HN

This is a great list.The two I already had in mind were Bret Victor and Vitalik Buterin.

typon Dec 21, 2015 View on HN

One of those people in your list is one of the most important thinkers of our time, the others are...not.

arnioxux Sep 1, 2017 View on HN

Newton, Nietzsche, Beethoven, Tesla, etc

geon Apr 20, 2013 View on HN

You could add Torvalds to that list.

gdss Jun 3, 2023 View on HN

Those people are all amazing. I also recommend Stafford Beer.

S_A_P Jan 19, 2020 View on HN

I would add Malcolm Gladwell to this list