The coverage of the Nobel Prizes have been all over the news lately, if you've known where to look for it. They should be getting more media attention today because of the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize winners around 4am CST, but the announcements have been coming out all week for several of the other prizes.
Although I'm not gonna say that this week is the more grown up equivalent of a little kid's Christmas, I am gonna say that I really like the week when the Nobel Laureates are announced. Because the prizes are based out of Norway, the announcements are made when I'm fast asleep dreaming about price consumption curves and mac and cheese in the caf. This gives me a little something extra to look forward to before I head to class. I've already read who is expected to be in contention this year, not that anyone really knows for sure except the committee, and when I arise from my slumber I can see just how right or wrong the "experts" and betting sites were. For example, this morning although some sources thought Twitter had a chance of winning for it's aid in facilitating Arab Spring, I was almost certain this wasn't a real possibility and when the Peace Prize was announced a statement from the committee chair even said something like although we appreciate the bloggers for getting the word out, these three women have shown incredible dedication to their cause.
What I really like about the format of the Nobel Prizes is the anonymous nature of the nominations. Because no one but the committee knows who is really in contention, everyone else has to just speculate who they think even has a chance. The best part about this is that it forces people to really think about who has done something great in their field. So while Syrian poet Adonis still didn't win the Prize for Literature, the fact that his name is perennially thrown around still says something about the work he has done.(Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer won this year.)
What I really like about the format of the Nobel Prizes is the anonymous nature of the nominations. Because no one but the committee knows who is really in contention, everyone else has to just speculate who they think even has a chance. The best part about this is that it forces people to really think about who has done something great in their field. So while Syrian poet Adonis still didn't win the Prize for Literature, the fact that his name is perennially thrown around still says something about the work he has done.(Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer won this year.)
Even though the committee has well-known biases, and a lot of people don't really understand the criteria for their selection, just the existence of this series of annual Prizes has some value in and of itself because of the conversation it creates. And we all win as a result.
Now I wait until Monday for the last, and one of my favorite Prizes, Economics.
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