I really love this question. Whenever I meet new friends or reconnect with family, I love asking this. I think it gives you a window into the way people think. Specifically, it's a guise a forcing function for prioritization of values, cleverly masquerading as a icebreaker. The singular person forces you to decide who exactly matters the most and what is it in that person that you are most excited to learn.
Someone who says Hitler might be interested in learning about the inner workings of a psychopath - because the experience would be incredibly unique. Someone might say the Wright brothers to meet one of their heroes - because they deeply appreciate engineering or draft. Or a religious figure like Jesus or the Prophet Mohammed to experience a spiritual moment they've dreamed of.
I don't derive grand conclusions from this about people, but it is certainly interesting to see what comes to mind and then also see what conclusions you drew about that person–based on the response they gave you. Did you feel like it confirmed something you thought about them? Or did you double-take?
For me, I'd say:
- Socrates
Socrates famously never wrote anything down. All we know about him, the whole Hellenistic philosophy movement that started with him, Socratic dialogue, and the broader genealogy of Greek philosophy is through his students, most famously Plato, which are all certainly tinged with interpretation.
What would it be like to pose queries to Socrates? What kind of a teacher would he be? I'd love to ask him for his thoughts on the hard problem of existence, or to reason through how the world got to where it is today, the morality crisis of the modern society, and how we would approach politics and governance today.
- Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo is one of the greatest creative minds of all time. His work spans across dozens of arts, sciences, literature, and more. I want to understand what led him down all these paths.
I'm under no delusion that this was "god-given" talent. He most certainly had an incredible amount of discipline, practiced until his hands wore out, and had an insatiable, almost maddening curiosity about everything. What must his workspace have looked like? What must his family and friends thought of him? Was he thought of as a crackpot? I'd love to see the dynamic between him and Michelangelo when they were painting in the Pallazo Vecchio in Florence. When a young Raphael walked in to observe. What a time it must have been. Imagine bringing a pizza and inviting those three to grab a bite before continuing.
- Syedna Al-Moiyyad al-Shirazi QR
Syedna al-Moiyyad is a Fatemid Dai from the 11th century active in the time of the 18th Imam of the Fatemi Caliphate in Egypt. My religious lineage is from this Caliphate and Syedna Al-Moiyyad is was singular in his level of impact on me, on our community, and my identity as a Muslim is India. So many of the words I use today are Persian (no doubt also influenced by Silk Road diffusion via the Mughal empire) due to the impact he had in teaching the original missionaries that came to India and began converting people to Islam. In every sermon/bayaan delivered in a Bohra Masjid, his Arabic epithets are quoted, his majlis and excerpts of are recited. He wrote so well and so profusely that almost a millenia later, I am still living in the light of his teachings. What a person he must have been.
- Walt Disney
There's definitely some recency bias here because I just listened to the Acquired podcast on this, but I think Walt Disney is the ultimate blend for me.
A generational artistic and creative talent with that wild and indomitable spirit of a founder whose bet the company for the 6th time. Walt is the singular reason Disney exists –why so many children grew up with the magical stories of Snow White, Cinderella, and Mickey Mouse– both on the creative side and on the business side. If Walt hadn't bet everything on animation, we wouldn't have it today. If Walt hadn't forced DisneyLand into existence through some insane obsession with model trains, Disney's most profitable business line wouldn't exist.
The incredible timeless IP that runs the flywheel is a result of Walt's own creative direction. When he passed, so much soaked out of the company that they hadn't produced a successful film for 2 decades after and largely stagnated in creative direction.
He faced so much failure and difficulty through his whole entrepreneurial journey. I know we talk a lot about "don't give up!" and yada-yada, but Walt was a cartoon artist in post-WWII US. His father was a largely failed entreprener, so he grew up seeing tough times due to business failure. He failed his first 2 entertainment ventures, had his first successful company effectively stolen from him. Then WWII happened and the US military co-opted his entire company and turned Donald Duck into a propaganda icon.
It would be incredible to hear him tell the story of Disney.
Isn't it funny how I didn't pick anyone or mention anyone living. Hard question.