Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

nobelpeaceprize.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 248 posts

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#81

Post by ptero »

TrackerFF wrote: post #24

The other day I read this article about Grigori Perelman, Russian mathematician who declined to accept any medal or prize related to him solving the Poincaré conjecture. He declined the fields medals and millennium prize on the basis that he didn't view himself as a hero, and thought such awards were irrelevant. And then you have Trump, on the complete other side of that spectrum.

Perelman is a strange character; IIRC he declined several times first without bothering to give a reason. Then, after being asked enough times, came up with a "I am not a hero and such awards are irrelevant" as a somewhat acceptable version so those pesky folks would leave him alone. Thus I would not use him as an example of the right way to deal with a prestigious award.

That said, the Nobel medal to Trump circus is beyond ridiculous.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#83

Post by lostlogin »

semicolon_storm wrote: post #11
bad_haircut72 wrote: post #3

They can say whatever they want but Usain Bolt gave me his gold medal so now Im the fastest 100m runner in the world

Sorry you got scammed, FIFA awarded me their 100m sprint gold medal so I'm the real fastest 100m runner in the world

FIFA did themselves a solid punch in the face with that one.

And to make it better, Trump kind of presented it to himself.

Amazing.

Key bit at about 35 seconds in.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/18/embarrassme...

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#84

Post by istjohn »

nephihaha wrote: post #57
eliben wrote: post #16

The underlying issue here is that the Nobel Peace Prize is a useless, politicized joke. It appears to be almost designed to give newspapers something to write about. It's a shame it gets tied with scientific prizes which represent actual merit.

It's been politicised forever. Even was during the Cold War. There have been some laughable official choices.

E.g., Henry Kissinger

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#86

Post by treetalker »

shubhamjain wrote: post #59
huhkerrf wrote: post #4

It's such a joke that we're even having to discuss this. Has there ever been such a thin-skinned, self-absorbed leader of a major power before? Even his biggest fans have to admit, if only to themselves, that he acts like a toddler.

Considering his approval rating is still in low 40s, and not 0, tells you volumes about the average American mind.

Before leaving the house, I find it helpful to imagine the median intelligence level in my geographic area (local, or country as a whole) and then recall that about half the population has a level below that point.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#87

Post by dghlsakjg »

wsbetter wrote: post #64

I have a genuine question. First off, it seems pretty targeted at Trump's and Machado's situation, so I'm assuming it's based off of that. I understand the importance and pride with an award as grand as this, but with so much at stake, is it worth keeping the integrity of the award, especially a peace award, at the cost of the freedom of millions of lives in Venezuela? (I word it like "the cost of millions' of freedo…

> I understand the importance and pride with an award as grand as this, but with so much at stake, is it worth keeping the integrity of the award, especially a peace award, at the cost of the freedom of millions of lives in Venezuela?

Is there any indication that pretending that he won would materially improve the situation in Venezuela? Machado is famous because she is in opposition to the Chavez/Maduro regime, but if you dig into her politics, she is VERY far to the right. She looks a lot more like a venezuelan Orban than Mandela if you read about her.

Awarding her the prize in the first place was a purely political decision not really rooted in merit (much like Obama), no reason for them to play a different game now.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#88

Post by kgwgk »

latexr wrote: post #51
Y_Y wrote: post #9

True enough. Poor Watson tried to get rid of his, only to have someone buy it for $4.1M and hand it right back. https://www.britannica.com/question/Why-did-James-Watson-sel...

The submitted article says 4.76 instead of 4.1. Doesn’t change anything, but at least one of those sources is wrong.

> Though Christie’s in Manhattan set the estimated haul for James D. Watson’s prize between $2.5 and $3.5 million, an anonymous bidder bought it for $4.1 million, the New York Times reports. The total rose to $4.76 million due to the buyer’s premium, which goes to the auction house.

https://time.com/3619174/james-watson-nobel-prize-medal-auct...

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#89

Post by lostlogin »

gdilla wrote: post #13
letmetweakit wrote: post #2

For whom are they writing this? For the sane people it's not needed and for the not-so-sane it doesn't really matter ...

a lot of tech bros voted for this

Unfortunately, there is no past tense here, and he has a lot of support in the US.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#90

Post by throw-the-towel »

lostlogin wrote: post #83
semicolon_storm wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry you got scammed, FIFA awarded me their 100m sprint gold medal so I'm the real fastest 100m runner in the world

FIFA did themselves a solid punch in the face with that one. And to make it better, Trump kind of presented it to himself. Amazing. Key bit at about 35 seconds in. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/18/embarrassme...

He presented it to himself? How Napoleonic!
Post reply on HN