{"id":2770,"date":"2015-07-01T12:07:37","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T19:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com.php5-21.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com\/wordpress\/?p=2770"},"modified":"2015-07-05T13:49:37","modified_gmt":"2015-07-05T20:49:37","slug":"scandirayvia-11-nobel-arguments-are-the-best-arguments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/scandirayvia-11-nobel-arguments-are-the-best-arguments\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

On Galma Stan, the small island that contains the Old Town, there\u2019s a museum dedicated to Alfred Nobel and his prizes.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t sound particularly sexy, but hey, I had the Stockholm City Card, didn\u2019t I?\u00a0 So I popped in, and boy was I glad I did.\u00a0 It turned out to be a very interesting place.<\/p>\n

\"SHOULD<\/a>
SHOULD HAVE WON<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I took a tour with a tiny and slightly smarmy Swede who was very articulate and informative.\u00a0 I learned all sort of interesting things about Mr. Nobel, including:<\/p>\n

He never married or had any children.<\/p>\n

He was born in Sweden, but lived most of his life in other countries (including twenty years in Russia).<\/p>\n

95% of his fortune was left to create the foundation for his prizes.\u00a0 His extended family members were not amused.<\/p>\n

The awards, given in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Peace, were to be given to people whose work in those fields in the past year<\/em> had provided the greatest benefit to the world<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Each prize is given by a different organization.\u00a0 Four of these are in Sweden, and as everyone knows, the Peace Prize is given in Norway and chosen by a Norwegian organization.\u00a0 Why is this?\u00a0 I had always wondered, and I thought, finally I\u2019ll find out why!<\/em><\/p>\n

Are you ready for the answer?\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of awesome:<\/p>\n

\"TOTALLY<\/a>
TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE WON<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We have no idea.\u00a0 Seriously.\u00a0 Nobel offered not a syllable of explanation in the will.\u00a0 He simply ordered that the Peace Prize be given by Norway.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are many theories, perhaps the most important being that Norway was more prominent in the international peace movement at that time than Sweden was.\u00a0 But still:\u00a0 We don\u2019t know<\/em>.\u00a0 I like that little bit of mystery.<\/p>\n

By the way, Nobel did not<\/em> provide for the Economics Prize.\u00a0 It was created later by the central bank of Sweden, given out \u201cin memory\u201d of Nobel, and the prize money comes from Swedish taxes, rather than the Nobel endowment.<\/p>\n

When the tour was over, I approached our Pocket Viking tour guide with my particular pet peeve:\u00a0 The Literary Prize.\u00a0 That prize is given by the Swedish Academy, which happens to meet in quarters on the second floor of the very building the museum was in.<\/p>\n

\"You<\/a>
You could make a very good argument that he deserved to win.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSO, \u201d I asked, \u201cWhat do the folks upstairs have against writers who have actually moved a few books?\u00a0 I\u2019ll waive the requirement that it be given to a work created in the year before prize; science and even literature don\u2019t really work that way.\u00a0 BUT.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Nobel\u2019s will specifically state that it was to be given to the person whose work had benefited the world the most?\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t that by definition mean the winner would be a popular writer?\u00a0 Why, instead, does the Academy use the prize as an affirmative action program for obscure writers from exotic places who haven\u2019t sold twenty books, but whose politics the Academy likes and whose work they\u2019d like to promote?\u201d<\/p>\n

P.V. Tour Guide was sympathetic to my point.\u00a0 I continued, \u201cVonnegut and Bradbury clearly did more good in the world with their work than the people the Academy hands out the prize to.\u00a0 It\u2019s clearly in violation of Nobel\u2019s will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turns out that, regarding Alfred Nobel\u2019s will, I\u2019m a Strict Constructionist.<\/p>\n

NOTE: \u00a0The image at the top of this post is of a very sweet crowd that had gathered to greet me as I left the Nobel Museet, <\/em>\u00a0which is the background. \u00a0After a taxing three hours signing autographs, handing out advice, and kissing babies and boyfriends, I had to beg off. \u00a0One does need one’s rest and a modicum of privacy.<\/p>\n

Average Rating: 4.7<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 284<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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