Thales of Miletus

About Thales of Miletus

Thales of Miletus, ranked #152 in historical importance by MIT's Pantheon project, stands as a foundational figure in Western thought. Active in the 6th century BCE, this Pre-Socratic philosopher is often credited as the first true philosopher, proposing naturalistic explanations for phenomena rather than mythological ones. He is famously attributed with the observation that water is the fundamental substance of all things and is also recognized for his early contributions to geometry, including measuring the height of pyramids using shadows.

Despite his pivotal role in launching rational inquiry, Thales receives modest modern digital attention, registering 354K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This places his online visibility significantly behind that of other philosophers like Rajneesh, who garnered 1.7 million views despite a lower historical importance rank (#568). Thales's attention gap is approximately 1x, meaning his current internet visibility is roughly proportional to his historical standing, though he is vastly overshadowed by more popular, less historically crucial thinkers.

Furthermore, the data indicates a mild decline in current interest: his view count has fallen by 17.1% year-over-year, and his Q1 to Q3 momentum shows a further 15% drop, suggesting that even his existing, modest online presence is currently waning.