Determining who the smartest person alive in 2023 is a complex and subjective matter. There is no objective way to measure intelligence, and different people may excel in different areas, such as logic, creativity, memory, or emotional intelligence.
Furthermore, intelligence is not only a matter of genetics or innate ability, but also of education, experience, motivation, and opportunity. Some people may have exceptional talents but lack the resources or interest to develop them, while others may have to work harder to overcome obstacles and achieve their potential.
With these caveats in mind, we can explore some candidates for the title of the smartest person alive in 2023, based on their accomplishments, reputation, and recognition in different fields.
One possible candidate is Andrew Wiles, a mathematician who proved Fermat’s Last Theorem in 1994, after working on it for seven years in secrecy. This theorem, first conjectured by Pierre de Fermat in 1637, states that there are no three positive integers a, b, and c that satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than two. Wiles’ proof, which involved advanced concepts from number theory and algebraic geometry, was a major breakthrough in mathematics and earned him numerous awards, including the Abel Prize in 2016.
Another possible candidate is Elon Musk, a visionary entrepreneur and engineer who has founded or co-founded several companies, such as SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. Musk’s ambitious goals include colonizing Mars, revolutionizing transportation, and enhancing human cognition and communication through technology. His achievements in spaceflight, electric cars, and renewable energy have inspired many people and sparked new innovations and investments in these areas.
A third possible candidate is Yoshua Bengio, a computer scientist and artificial intelligence researcher who co-won the Turing Award in 2018 for his contributions to deep learning. Bengio, along with Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun, developed the backpropagation algorithm and other techniques that allowed neural networks to learn from large datasets and improve their performance on a wide range of tasks, such as image recognition, speech recognition, and natural language processing. Bengio has also advocated for more ethical and human-centered approaches to AI and co-founded the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms.
Other possible candidates for the smartest person alive in 2023 include:
- Angela Merkel, a physicist and politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, during which she led the country through several crises, such as the Eurozone debt crisis, the refugee crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Merkel’s analytical and pragmatic approach to politics, combined with her leadership skills and global influence, have earned her respect and admiration from many people.
- Terence Tao, a mathematician who has made significant contributions to several areas of mathematics, such as number theory, harmonic analysis, and partial differential equations. Tao, who was a child prodigy and earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University at age 21, has received numerous awards and honors, including the Fields Medal in 2006.
- Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist who has raised awareness and mobilized young people around the world to demand action on climate change. Thunberg, who started protesting alone outside the Swedish parliament in 2018, has since spoken at international forums, such as the United Nations Climate Action Summit, and inspired millions of followers through social media and grassroots movements.
- Yuval Noah Harari, a historian and philosopher who has written several best-selling books, such as “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow,” and “21 Lessons for the 21st Century.” Harari’s interdisciplinary and thought