Do you want to be remembered?

[Myword]

 I wonder--would you rather be remembered by something you said or wrote, but not your name.
Or would you prefer your name is remembered, but nothing about what you ever said or wrote or did?
Your lecture, book or article could be remembered in the far future--possibly, not likely.

Granted, 98% of public is not remembered, except by their family, maybe friends and for a limited time period.

.

[mamselle]

I've found out a few things that I've tried to get out that I hope will have enough of an effect that they won't have to be 'remembered' per se.

May or may not happen.

At one point I was conscious of some kind of familial expectation to add to the lustre of the family name, but not too long ago I came to see that as a kind of idolatry at whose altar I didn't want to worship.

If something is helpful, I hope it'll stick around.

If not, that it won't.

I might even be wrong about which is which.

On ne sais, jamais...

M.

[Ruralguy]

If I couldn't be remembered in any other way, not even by family (I mean beyond immediate family in several generations) , I think I'd rather what I said or wrote or did, contribute to society as a whole rather than just a 3rd great grandchild discovering my name, but not much else.

[Ruralguy]

And I think jumping off a bit of what Mamselle said, a name is just a name. If to my descendants or future countrymen or whomever I am just a name, and could have been a notorious murderer, or just a a horrible misanthrope, then I don't see what good that does, especially if they are to never learn more.

[Wahoo Redux]

I wish I had been in Led Zeppelin. 

[Parasaurolophus]

I'll take the name, thanks. My vanity balks at the other.

[Myword]

Well, I'd rather be remembered from my writing or what I said or achievement, assuming it is positive, even if my name is forgotten. It is a long long shot. Finished writing has a life of its own, I found. You could be remembered for something you spent little time and unimportant to you. Your best work might be forgotten. There are countless examples.
Computers preserve writing but since technical access  changes rapidly, it might be lost in future with different technology. Anything could happen. Search engines will be even more overloaded and hard to access.

[downer]

I won't deny that acknowledgement gives me pleasure. It has occurred to me to fund The Downer Chair in Gloom, or some such project. But I can't say I care enough to have a preference between the given options.

I'm wondering how long my wikipedia page will last. They get deleted sometimes, right?

[mamselle]

I dunno. A friend's Academia page has been up for quite awhile since their death, now.

Ten years, to be exact.

I don't plan on telling the site administrator.

M.

[Sun_Worshiper]

I'd be happy (from the grave) if a theory or argument that I developed lived on, even if my name was forgotten. However, if the credit ended up going to one of my professional rivals I would be enraged (from the grave).

[apl68]

I've been unable to have a family of my own, and it looks like my efforts to leave a legacy through work are not going to amount to everything I would have wanted.  As long as God remembers me.  That's what's really important anyway.

[little bongo]

To answer the question as it appears in the title, no, not so much. I might have wanted that once, but I'm not sure.

I mean, by immediate family and a few friends, for a while, sure. But I'm content to fade away for them just as those close to me have gradually faded.

[larryc]

When I am gone, remember me thus: https://www.hueylong.com/images/photos/perspectives/hpl-statue1.jpg