Four forces shape how people remember cultural figures

Physicist César Hidalgo and his colleagues analyzed how technology, territory, tongue, and time influence collective memory and the global fame of historical figures.

Hidalgo created an online repository called pantheon.world in 2013 to map cultural products and famous people. The research shows that linguistic hubs significantly affect fame. For example, because English serves as a global hub, individuals who achieve fame in English reach a wider audience than those who achieve fame in regional languages.

The study also identifies how different technologies change the types of people who become famous. Before 1450, collective memory primarily featured political and religious leaders. The invention of printing introduced writers and scientists, while the introduction of film shifted focus to performers like actors and singers. Television later added athletes to the shared cultural memory. Hidalgo also examined the role of territory, noting that people from the same country have a higher probability of recognizing local figures.

In a study involving 41,000 players, participants from the same country showed a nine percentage point advantage in recognizing specific historical characters. Shared language provided an additional four percentage points.