4 ms·
The alternative to this will then tend towards the extreme you see with papers like the one out of CERN that had more than 5000 co-authors. Eventually you need
by evgen 6y ago
The alternative to this will then tend towards the extreme you see with papers like the one out of CERN that had more than 5000 co-authors. Eventually you need to set a limit and accept the fact that some people will get screwed, if not then it will become not much more than a participation trophy.
- j7ake 6y agoOne does not need to accept the fact that people will get screwed. Breakthrough prize does not limit the number of awardees. There has been one award so far that was given to 300 people for the image of a supermassive black hole. The rest have been to groups of <10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Prize_in_Fundamental_Physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Prize_in_Fundamen...
- mongol 6y agoThere is nothing wrong with the idea but it is not legally possible to do otherwise. The Nobel Foundation was instated using instructions in Nobel's testament. The foundation can not just change the bylaws because more recipients would be better.
- hardtke 6y agoThey seem to ignore this bylaw freely ... "shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind."
- tpmx 6y agoThat's from the Norwegian Nobel Peace prize comittee, which has been grossly mismanaged for years. There are/were lawsuits from the Swedish Nobel family regarding this.
- tpmx 6y agoOops. That language isn't specific to the peace prize even then though it kinda sounds like it it. Still, my comment stands.
- AtlasBarfed 6y agoCounterpoint: Economics "In honor of Nobel" Prize. The committee goes out of its way to enable this being viewed as a "real" Nobel, so if the bylaws were so strict, why do that?
- Ulrich2 6y agoWhy does anyone get screwed here? Getting a prize is totally optional. It is not a salary or something.
- jonshariat 6y agoWhat if instead there were honorees or something that still had some recognition?
- Shivetya 6y agothen simply recognize the organization
- WhompingWindows 6y agoWho's suggesting 5000 as the upper limit? That is an outlier. The point is the Laureates have collaborators who they believe contributed equally, and according to internationally agreed-upon scientific standards, acknowledgement should be given to these scientists. The Nobel Prize is contributing to this "Great Man" theory of history, when in reality every "Great Man" has numerous collaborators who only get illuminated in the sub-paragraphs of the plethora of writing about these figures.