Respectfully disagree with the article. There is a not a "minor league" version of competing for Nobel in Physics or Chemistry but it also doesn't have to exis

Respectfully disagree with the article. There is a not a "minor league" version of competing for Nobel in Physics or Chemistry but it also doesn't have to exist as it is not what those people are after. From my POV and experience, what broke down are communities and role of discussion and gossip in those same communities. The popular "Have you heard X about Y" use to apply to a local teacher, major, bar owner ect. and more connection people would find between the X and prominent the figure would be in the community, the more engaged the conversation would have been. A conversation would go like this Today it's about pop stars, politicians, scientist aka people you (them) will never meet in RL. I imagine this would be a typical example of conversations that are missing: Person A: "Have you heard about our major, he is sleeping with the shop owners daughter?" Person B: "Oh no, really? Doesn't she have a child with the son of the barber?" Person A: "You mean the barber on the main square?" Person B: "Yes, that one he use to have more shops but they failed, because barber no.2 screwed him over" Person A: " That is not what I heard... the story I heard is that barber no1. didn't do his fair share" Person B: " Come on... that can't justify that..." ECT ECT ECT