We have done numerous lists of people and things that have had a great influence on man and they are always popular, so today we are presenting another list of influential people - but this time, they are people who never existed. There were hundreds of people to choose from, so this has been a fun list to compile. We hope you agree with our choices, but if you don’t, feel free to use the comments to tell us who you would have put here instead.
What child has not been frightened into behaving thanks to the ever-present youthful fear of Santa not providing come Christmas? Almost all western children were told by their parents that Santa would leave them nothing if they misbehaved. I speak from experience when I say that it was one of the most effective methods of stopping tantrums! Funnily enough, though, the fear always dissipates on Christmas Eve as you just know that Santa will be coming - even if you did slip up a few times.
As Barbie has progressed from a pretty young woman to whom all girls could aspire, to something often verging on the likeness of a harlot, one can wonder whether it was Barbie influencing children, or children influencing Barbie. There are certainly many similarities. Barbie has depicted almost every possible female lifestyle choice and I think there can be no doubt that she has been at the start of the path many women have taken in life.
This could potentially lead to a debate about whether Hood existed or not, but I am of the opinion that he did not. Therefore, he is listed as my number eight on the list. I am sure we have all heard someone justifying theft because the victim is wealthy - and where did this justification come from? Not just the principles of redistribution of wealth that many of us live under in Western Society (read envy taxes) but the fact that to this day, we are all raised believing Robin Hood was a hero - when, in fact, he was a thief. Stealing is almost always wrong, and just because Robin Hood gave the proceeds of his crimes to poor people, it is not a valid justification. As for the previously mentioned taxes, there is every reason for us to believe that the majority of people accept these taxes because of their prior belief in the false morality of the Robin Hood story.
This is one for the boys obviously! Even in remote New Zealand where I grew up, all the boys played “Cowboys and Indians”. The cowboy was a great hero with a shining gun who represented the morality of Western ideals: manliness, defense of justice, protection of women and children. No doubt many now cringe at the lack of political correctness involved in the game and stereotype, but kids aren’t politically correct (thank God) and certainly won’t be hindered because of it. The influence of the Cowboy movie genre is indisputable an immense one. Oh - and for those who say “but cowboys are real!” - yes - but this is about the concept - not about a specific person - just as we might say Santa existed as St Nicholas, the concept is bigger than any one person.
How many men reading this list who smoke, are smoking cigarettes with filters? Venturing a guess I would say all of them. Before the Marlboro Man campaign began, “real men” didn’t smoke cigarettes with filters - they were for women. The aim of the Marlboro Man campaign was primarily to get men smoking filtered marlboro cigarettes. The influence of the campaign is abundantly clear today. The campaign is considered to be one of the best in all history. According to Wikipedia, it transformed a feminine campaign, with the slogan ‘Mild as May’, into one that was masculine, in a matter of months.
And now another for the girls! Rosie the Riveter may not be a familiar name, but her picture certainly is. Rosie the Riveter told women that they can do anything - and they did! Rosie managed to motivate an entire generation of working-age women to get out of the home and in to factories to help the war effort. This is probably one of the most influential events of the Second World War. Once the floodgates of women working were open, they would never be closed again. All women working in traditional male jobs have Rosie to thank.
In a short 24 hours, you can fly from one side of the planet to another. This (one of man’s greatest achievements) may never have happened if it had not been for the mythological characters Daedalus and Icarus. The story tells of Daedalus building mechanical wings for his son Icarus and ever since the tale was told, man has lusted after the ability to take the sky and fly. This eventually came true and the entire planet is a changed place as a consequence of it.
3 The Little Engine That Could
The moral of this children’s tale is that self-belief, optimism, and hard work result in achievement - of even the most difficult tasks. The book first appeared in a slightly different version to today, in 1906. It has been regarded by many as a metaphor for the “American Dream”. The popularity of this book may also be a contributing factor to the huge number of self-help and “positive thinking” seminars and books that we see today.
A relatively modern addition to this list, Big Brother has been a influence in so many social protests that he has to be included here. His name comes up every time a government passes a restrictive law or a law which seems to remove aspects of our eternal freedoms. Everyone recognizes his face, everyone knows what he stands for, and everyone is terrified of the potential for our own lives to be governed by our own version of the fictional character. Big Brother was, of course, created by George Orwell for his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Not only can Romeo and Juliet be blamed for much of our ideas of the “perfect relationship” - I think it can also be blamed for a high percentage of divorces. Couples going in to marriage seek the ideal of a relationship based entirely on passion and romance, and when that romance dims (as so often is the case) they feel cheated and believe the marriage has failed. When in reality, passionate romance is not required for a healthy marriage - while respect, love, and charity is. Romeo and Juliet have much to answer for!
译文:
10个不存在却最具影响力的人
我们有许多名单罗列出那些对人类有重大影响的人们，他们通常都是受欢迎的。今天我们来谈谈另外一批极具影响力的人吧——不过这次谈的这些人并非现实存在。有几百人可供选择因此这是一张有趣的名单。我们希望你能赞同我们的选择，如若不然请将您心仪的名单告知我们。
孩子们小时候是不是会害怕圣诞老人不送礼物？在西方，几乎所有的父母都告诉过孩子，如果他们表现不好圣诞老人就不会送礼物。就我的经验来讲，这是防止孩子发脾气最有效的方法之一了。有趣的是，即便你不小心疏忽犯了几次错，而当你知道圣诞老人会来，担忧总是会在圣诞夜烟消云散的。
芭比娃娃已经从一个年轻漂亮的女性“成长”为所有女孩向往的形象，又或者是类似于妓女的形象。究近是芭比影响了孩子，还是孩子影响了芭比呢？这两者有许多相似之处。芭比几乎展现了女性所能选择的所有生活模式。我相信，芭比将毫无疑问地成为众多女性模仿的对象。
关于罗宾汉是否真实存在可能引起争议，不过我认为他并非现实存在。因此我将他列在名单的第8位。我敢肯定我们都知道劫富济贫的合理性，那么这种正当理由缘何而来呢？不仅仅因为我们所处的西方社会财富的再分配原则，而是我们都相信了罗宾汉是个英雄——然而实际上他是个贼！偷盗本来就是错误只不过因为罗宾汉将自己的犯罪成果与穷人分享，但这并不构成正当理由。先前提及过的税收，我们有理由相信大部分的人接受税收是因为之前他们对罗宾汉的故事而产生错误的道德观。
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牛仔
这显然是男孩子们喜欢的人物！即便是我生长在那遥远的新西兰，所有的男孩子们都玩“牛仔和印第安人”。牛仔是个大英雄，背着一只闪亮亮的抢。他代表着西方的道德观念：要有男子气概、维护正义、保护妇女和孩子。毫无疑问，由于在参与游戏与墨守成规方面缺乏政治的正确性，很多人都在畏缩。然而孩子们在政治中谈不上正确与否（感谢上帝）当然也没不会因此而退缩了。以牛仔为主题的电影，它们的影响无疑是巨大的。啊，有人会说“但是牛仔是真实的”，是的，不过这只是一个概念而不是特定的一个人，正如我们说的圣诞老人和尼古拉斯都存在一样。（圣诞老人的故事是由来于一个叫尼古拉斯的人）。一个概念远比任何一个个体大得多。
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有多少人一边用滤嘴吸着烟，一边看着这张宣传单？大胆猜测的话我敢说，所有的人都看过。在万宝路人的运动开始之前，“真正的人们”并不会用滤嘴吸烟——那些都是给女人们用的。万宝路人的发起运动的目的主要在于让男人们用过滤嘴吸万宝路的烟。如今来看这场运动的影响力十分明显。这个运动可以堪称史上最好的运动之一了。据维基百科所载，它改变了一场口号是“温和如五月”的妇女运动，将其在几个月的时间里变的充满男子气。
再让女孩们看看吧！Rosie the Riveter 或许并不是家喻户晓，但是她的图一定众所周知。Rosie the Riveter 告诉妇女们她们能做一切事情——而且她们确实做到了！Rosie 成功鼓动了一代处于劳动年龄的妇女走出家庭、走进工厂来支援战争。这很可能是二战期间最具影响力的事件之一了。女性工作的“阀门”一旦被打开那就永远不可能再关上了。可以做传统观念上只有男性才能做的工作，所有的妇女都得感谢Rosie。
在短短的24小时内，你可以从星球的一边飞到另一边。要不是Daedalus and Icarus这两个神话人物，这个（人类最伟大的一项成功）可能永远也无法实现。这个故事说的是Daedalus为他的儿子早了双神奇的翅膀。自从有了这样的传说，人类就不断渴望得到这种触及天空自由飞翔的能力。而最终梦想的实现使得整个星球也因此发生了改变。
这个童话的宗旨是教孩子们自信、乐观以及为了成功而刻苦甚至是做最难的任务。1906年的第一本书与现在的版本有一点不一样。很多人把这本书看成是对“美国之梦”的比喻。这本书的大受欢迎也多少造成了如今我们看到的那么多关于自助自力、积极思维的研讨会及书籍。
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在这张名单上加一个相对现代一点的人物。老大哥，对这里所提到的很多社会抗议有很一定的影响。每当政府订立一项约束性的法律或者是有碍于我们最终自由权的法律，老大哥这个名字就会出现。每个人都认识他，每个人都知道他代表什么，也都害怕我们的命运被这一科幻人物所控制的潜在可能。老大哥曾经是，乔治奥威尔在他的小说1984中塑造的形象。
我们中的很多人梦想着“完美关系”，这不仅仅是罗密欧与朱丽叶的错，我认为如今的高离婚率同样有责任。情侣们步入婚姻殿堂去寻求理想的关系，这完全基于热情与浪漫。而当浪漫退去（通常都是这样）他们就觉得被欺骗认为自己的婚姻失败。在现实生活中，激情般的浪漫并不带来健康的婚姻——只有尊重、爱、宽容的结合才能带来健康的婚姻。对此，罗密欧与朱丽叶还得负很多责任呢！