(3) Rene Descartes
The Frenchman is no easy matchup given his resume: Father of modern philosophy. “I think, therefore I am.” Inventor of dualism, which proposes a disconnect between mind and matter. Maker of wax-based analogies. Inventor of coordinate geometry. Writer of an ontological proof of God’s existence. Busy guy.
(14) Coco Chanel
Despite being born into poverty, Chanel parlayed her simple, clean sensibility into a decades-long run as the queen of Parisian haute couture. Her guiding principle that a garment is only luxurious if it’s comfortable appealed to women, and her iconic Chanel jacket is possibly the most imitated piece of clothing ever. Her genius can be summed up in one of her quotes: “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”
The Breakdown
This all-French matchup basically comes down to a question of your priorities. Descartes may have outfitted us with analytic geometry and a pithy way to prove that we actually exist, but would you want him dressing you for a night on the town? Then again, what’s the point of knowing you exist if you’re not looking good enough to enjoy it?
[poll=33]
[See the whole bracket here.]
Comments (8)
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This is definitely one of the more biased “Breakdown” segments I’ve seen. I’m just saying.
posted by EMStoveken on 3-20-2009 at 3:47 pm
I loved the Breakdown segment. Very cleverly written. Wry humor…which I’m absolutely no good at, so appreciate it in others.
posted by Rachel on 3-20-2009 at 4:16 pm
I voted for Coco Chanel, but I totally dig Descartes’ hair.
posted by adrienne on 3-20-2009 at 4:51 pm
While I am in favor of this contest, I do agree much of it is biased and some of the people chosen don’t even belong in the competition.
posted by rob on 3-20-2009 at 8:12 pm
It kills me that so many commenters are taking this contest so seriously. Paris Hilton was in the play-in game for pete’s sake! It’s obviously all tongue-in-cheek.
posted by Travis on 3-20-2009 at 9:19 pm
I’m with Travis on this one. I’m pretty sure they don’t think Colonel Sanders is really one of history’s greatest geniuses. The whole thing is sort of a fun lark…I don’t think it’s biased; these dead people probably aren’t slipping the editors any bribes.
posted by Scott on 3-20-2009 at 11:46 pm
I think, therefore I am aware that elimination rounds are often lopsided.
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-21-2009 at 12:18 am
I always thought Descartes was a joke. The first thing I learned about him was that he said he built his arguments on a foundation of absolute truth. Otherwise it can’t possibly be true and taken seriously. Then we learned about his most famous idea which was I think therefore I am. An idea that can’t possibly be true based on his own logic since he starts by saying, “let’s temporarily assume that there is a deceiving god that uses all of it’s power to constantly deceive us.” That does not sound like a solid foundation of truth and absolute certainty to build his argument to me.
posted by Jake on 3-23-2009 at 8:34 am