[guesswest]

[ QUOTE ]
"There is no question these people have changed history"

I guess this would depend on the way you perceive reality.
In my reality nobody has ever nor will ever change history.

In the same way nobody will ever make a difference.

The universe is set!
When the Big-Bang emerged, the unfolding of the universe took place just as the Big-Bang dictated, just as the Big-Bang dictates the end of the universe to it's ultimate detail.
And even the fart that I am to let go in a minute, was enclosed in this Big-Bang!

Double cheers!

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the basic argument for determinism; eg. all-encompassing causality in the universe dictates that events are extensions of that which is previous. Setting aside the interesting stuff that quantum mechanics is saying about that (which I don't really understand) there's a fundamental philosophical problem too.

To view the universe as pre-determined in this way involves stepping outside of the universe to look at it. If human thought functions in the same way a chain of falling dominoes does, we can't offer any kind of meaningful analysis of our condition, including a deterministic one, because we ultimately can't decide anything. If we can decide, then we have free will, to some extent at least.