The Nobel Prize

or

I bet Alfred's spinning in his grave

Last week saw the annual Nobel prize giving, named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite (not the horse).  It was established after his death in 1896, in concordance with his will.  Alfred wanted the bulk of his estate to be invested and the interest used to award equal prizes annually in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.  As well as inventing dynamite, Nobel was also interested in poetry and peace.  For the first three, science, categories, the prize was to the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain The literature prize was to be awarded to whoever created the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.  And finally, the peace prize was to be awarded to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses

We can surmise that Alfred wanted the prizes to be regarded based on worth, and not politics or any other contributory factor based on his will which specified

It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no consideration whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinavian or not

The first nobel prizes were awarded in 1901 and one or more have been awarded every year since with the exception of the years 1940 – 1942, during the second world war.  In other years (mainly during the two world wars), not all prizes were awarded. 

Ireland has punched above its weight in terms of literature.  We have Four Nobel Laureates, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Becket and Séamus Heaney.  Yeats received it in 1923 for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation, Becket in 1969 for for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation and Heaney in 1995 for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past

Shaw was awarded the 1925 prize, but did not receive it until 1926, as the committee decided that no-one met the criteria in 1925.   If only they stuck to these guidelines now! 

In fairness, right from the start, the committees deviated from Alfred Nobel’s will.  It specifies that each of the prizes is awarded to the person i.e. one, singular person.  Yet, even the very first year, 1901, the prizes were awarded, the peace prize was awarded to two people – Jean Henry Dunant and Frédéric Passy.  The shambles of the peace prize has been continued right up until the present day.  The Red Cross was awarded the peace prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963. 

Now, I don’t deny that the Red Cross is a marvellous organisation that has contributed much towards “fraternity between nations”, but by no definition can it be considered to be a person.  Other organisations to have been awarded the peace prize include UNICEF (1965) , the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (1985), the Quakers (1947) and Amnesty International (1977). 

However it wasn’t until the 21^st century that the prize became totally ridiculous with Barack Obama getting it in 2009.  He’s not the first United States president to be awarded the prize – Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Carter also have them.  But things have sunk to a new depth.  Only 5 days ago, on 12^th October 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize  "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe".  What a load of bollox!

A number of Irish names have also appeared in the Nobel Peace Prize list – Seán McBride in 1974 and John Hume and David Trimble in 1998.  Betty Williams and Mairéad Corrigan were awarded the 1976 peace prize, but like Shaw, no-one was deemed to have met the criteria in 1976, so were awarded it in 1977 instead.  That somewhat diminishes it, doesn’t it?

Another huge difficulty I have with the whole Nobel prize thing is their invention of a prize in Economics 1968.  That most definitely was not mentioned in Alfred’s will.  It's this, in additon to the peace prize that I have a problem with, although I would prefer if the prize was given to one person and one person only, as per the will.  When the various committees start moving the goal posts, it makes a farce of the whole thing, in my opinion. 

Ireland also has a nobel prize winner, Ernest Walton in Physics.  He shared it in 1951 with John Douglas.  By and large, the science winners, with some obvious exceptions, have been worthy winners.  And I cannot argue with Yeats, Beckett and yes, even Heaney’s wins.  Shaw is slightly more arguable, but then that is reflected in the fact that no-one was deemed worthy originally for that year.  I wouldn’t be terribly familiar with the other literature prize winners, but assume they’re all worthy.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that deviating from Alfred Nobel’s original criteria decreases the value of the prize.  I urge that the Economics prize is dropped and that the prizes are awarded to individual people. To do otherwise is to insult the deserved winners up to 101 of them in literature and 148 in the sciences.  It’s akin to the dumbing down of the Leaving Certificate and higher level qualifications – when you lower the standards, the whole thing becomes pointless.