Bill Gates is more admired than Pope, Dalai Lama

[Emil]

Americans put Bill Gates in the top 10 list of men they most admire. The Microsoft co-founder was named the fifth most admired man of 2010, according to the latest USA Today/Gallup poll (via TechFlash).

The results were based on landline and cellular phone surveys with 1,019 adults living in the continental US. They were asked the question "What man that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire the most?" The rankings below are based on total mentions:

1. Barack Obama: 22 percent
2. George W. Bush: 5 percent
3. Bill Clinton: 4 percent
4. Nelson Mandela: 2 percent
5. Bill Gates: 2 percent
6. Pope Benedict XVI: 2 percent
7. Rev. Billy Graham: 2 percent
8. Jimmy Carter: 2 percent
9. Glenn Beck: 2 percent
10. The Dalai Lama: 1 percent

Gates is moving up the ranks: he was seventh last year. His public image has been transformed over the years from a monopolist into a philanthropist. His work health and education initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have not gone unnoticed.

His most recent initiative with Warren Buffett, which has American billionaires promise to donate the majority of their wealth to charity, has been quite successful. Even Mark Zuckerberg has signed up.

The same question was also asked for the most admired woman, again ranked by total mentions:

1. Hillary Clinton: 17 percent
2. Sarah Palin: 12 percent
3. Oprah Winfrey: 11 percent
4. Michelle Obama: 5 percent
5. Condoleezza Rice: 2 percent
6. Queen Elizabeth: 2 percent
7. Angelina Jolie: 1 percent
8. Margaret Thatcher: 1 percent
9. Aung San Suu Kyi: 1 percent
10. Laura Bush: 1 percent
11. Barbara Bush: 1 percent

Unfortunately, no woman from the tech industry made the list. Maybe next year?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/42017-bill-gates-is-more-admired-than-pope-dalai-lama.html

 

[TomSEA]

Well, there ya have it - proof the world is coming to an end. Glenn Beck and Oprah are in the top ten of "most admired." (gag)

 

[yRaz]

TomSEA said:
Well, there ya have it - proof the world is coming to an end. Glenn Beck and Oprah are in the top ten of "most admired." (gag)

Don't forget Sarah Palin

 

[revam1]

...aaanddd I just lost hope in humanity

 

[gwailo247]

Gates is on the right track. When we think of Sanford or Carnegie today, we think colleges and PBS shows, not ruthless robber barons.

 

[lawfer]

yRaz said:

TomSEA said:
Well, there ya have it - proof the world is coming to an end. Glenn Beck and Oprah are in the top ten of "most admired." (gag)

Don't forget Sarah Palin

^That is even worst than having Glenn Beck. I mean the guy is obviously a brainwashing troll, but Sarah Palin? Seriously United States of America?

 

[TomSEA]

I didn't even see Palin on the list - must be a mental block or something. She's hands down the worst. Everyone that voted for her in that "most popular" poll should be given a lobotomy.

 

[yRaz]

TomSEA said:
I didn't even see Palin on the list - must be a mental block or something. She's hands down the worst. Everyone that voted for her in that "most popular" poll should be given a lobotomy.

or sterilized so they can't reproduce....GENE POOL NEEDS CHLORINE!

 

[negroplasty]

nice 1000 person poll. Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin hahaha...

 

[Benny26]

If Sarah Palin ever makes that list, or any list like that in fact...Please, will the last person to leave planet earth turn the light off (or second last if you count Palin).

 

[Guest]

I guess this proves that only about 1% of the American population has any intelligence beyond the gossip ragst.

Scary.

 

[matrix86]

Obama number 1? This must have been taken before he screwed up the economy even more. If this was taken recently, I hoped he got number 1 purely for being the first black president. Other than that, I haven't seen him do anything worth admiring...and that's coming from one of the poor shmuks who voted for him. Lesson learned, lol.

As for Palin, she's on my woman list, but it's not the "most admired" woman list ;D

 

[Rick]

Thankfully, this survey is about an unscientific as you can get.

But still, when a professional T.V. troll, a half-term governor who can't answer even basic american history/government questions and a man guilty of the biggest pedophilia cover-up of all time make it on a list like that... It's pretty scary.

On the other hand, I'm really surprised 2% of those people actually even KNEW who Nelson Mandela is. The bar was low, but at least that is a pleasant surprise.

 

[PanicX]

negroplasty said:
nice 1000 person poll. Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin hahaha...

This is the best perspective to view this report in. I've no clue how you can possibly equate a polling of such a small demographic with the opinions of an entire nation.

matrix86 said:
Obama number 1? This must have been taken before he screwed up the economy even more. If this was taken recently, I hoped he got number 1 purely for being the first black president. Other than that, I haven't seen him do anything worth admiring...and that's coming from one of the poor shmuks who voted for him. Lesson learned, lol.

nothing you say?
http://whatthe****hasobamadonesofar.com/

 

[Benny26]

PanicX said:
I've no clue how you can possibly equate a polling of such a small demographic with the opinions of an entire nation.

Careful buddy, i said pretty much the exact same thing in the "Americans can't live without the internet" thread. People were coming down on me with stuff like "Well if you went to statistics classes, you would know how these things work"...Like the hell i'm ever going to try one of those

 

[PanicX]

For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Well, according to the article itself, there's a greater margin of error than actual percentage of votes for 70% of the ranked results. Not to mention the disclaimer of bias as well.

But regardless, I don't think I could take anyone seriously that thinks a sampling of 0.0003% of a demographic could possibly be an accurate representation of it.

 

[Technochicken]

nothing you say?
http://whatthe****hasobamadonesofar.com/

As much as I agree with you, this is probably not the best place to discuss political opinions. It's really easy to tip from a polite disagreement to a nasty flame war.

As for Glenn Beck being on the list, that is truly scary (if this survey is remotely accurate). At least it's not David Icke on the list though.

 

[aj_the_kidd]

Good for Bill he has definitely done his fair share to be on the list. But really only 1,019 people surveyed, add about 4-5 more zeroes to that number (with not decimal point) then maybe i will take this survey seriously.

 

[Zecias]

why do people release these surveys that are so amazingly inaccurate and biased?
if sarah palin is actually among the most respected women in america, then i will lose all hope for humanity.

PanicX said:

negroplasty said:
nice 1000 person poll. Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin hahaha...

This is the best perspective to view this report in. I've no clue how you can possibly equate a polling of such a small demographic with the opinions of an entire nation.

matrix86 said:
Obama number 1? This must have been taken before he screwed up the economy even more. If this was taken recently, I hoped he got number 1 purely for being the first black president. Other than that, I haven't seen him do anything worth admiring...and that's coming from one of the poor shmuks who voted for him. Lesson learned, lol.

nothing you say?
http://whatthe****hasobamadonesofar.com/

it's obama's fault for not being more public about what he has done and why. he ignored the hardball rule: "leave no shot unanswered" and his public approval rating has gone down; many people have decided to vote for republicans because of this misconception. he just lets people bash him without responding and this is what happens.

 

[Guest]

Bill Gates is a retard and shouldn't be admired by anyone or anything, for that matter. He should have been open-source from the beginning. His company is closed off from the world, and nobody at Microsoft realizes that. Open-source gets things done faster, and induces a positive environment in which developers are encouraged to improve on software.

 

[slh28]

So a quarter of American people have either Sarah Palin or Oprah as their most admired woman? Not much more to say really...

 

[aj_the_kidd]

The guy built an empire many many years ago which has embedded itself into society and is still going strong even in his absence, not bad for a retard. I think anyone who is willing to give away the majority his/her fortune (granted he has allot) is admirable in my books.

 

[DokkRokken]

You guys think this list represents the end of the world? If Mike Sorrentino made the list, THEN we'd have a problem.

Anyhow, I admire Glenn Beck, and his incredible ability to scare the living hell out of people who would normally have common sense. That's quite the trait you got there, Glenny-boy.

Really, I'm happy that Hillary took the top spot. I don't agree with her politics, but I'd have no qualms if a daughter of mine said she was a role model.

I'm less impressed with Palin and Condi's positions. Condi should rank higher as she too is a very accomplished woman. Palin on the other hand, should be on par with Snooki.

 

[red1776]

Bill Gates is a retard and shouldn't be admired by anyone or anything, for that matter

Yeah, he's a real horses ***
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx

...but I'm sure you do more for humanity.

 

[dividebyzero]

Checking out the full poll results (short pdf), you can also add that Brad Pitt is equal to the Dalai Lama in the admiration stakes.
Which goes to prove that when given a pop quiz, people will choose whomever has the best saturation media coverage

Also 7% of people nominated a friend or relative....and "Other" garnered 27%. I'm estimating* a sizeable percentage of that percentage, statistically speaking, were made up of fictional TV characters and those godawful hipsters from the Toyota ad's that carpetbombed the NFL playoffs.

* sampling error +/- a sizeable amount