So, if you could befriend up to 6 people, who would you choose. I should point out that they must be currently alive.

Also, if there is a conflict, have plans to resolve it.

My picks are
1.) Alton Brown
2.) Adam Savage
3.) Jamie Hyneman
4.) Bill Nye
5.) Neil DeGrasse Tyson
6.) Michio Kaku

Alton hates being compared to Bill and if left alone, Alton may get punchy.

Jamie has Zen-like calm and may need to feed Adam if he starts acting up.

But over all, I would make sure that the deflation of egos is a regular occurrence.

Why these six?

Because nerds get shit done. The badasses of today were the geniuses who lived down the hall in college and if you weren't part of the genius crowd, you're likely to crib notes on the exams from them.