Column by Tim Riley
In the end, it’s all much ado about nothing. I’m talking of course, about awards. Every single one of them, from the Nobel Prize to the Heisman Trophy, does not really amount to much. Just a few people getting together and deciding to give someone a plaque and maybe some cash.
They’re all biased and given to the wrong people sometimes, but it is nothing to get worked up about. They only reflect the opinion of those that grant them, and I refuse to generate personal outrage about how others feel like spending their resources to honor.
President Obama won a Nobel Prize for giving some speeches. That’s great news for him. I hope he enjoys his rewards. If I was giving out the award, would I have given it to him though? Absolutely not; however, I am not a member of the Nobel Award committee and who they choose to honor has no bearing upon me and my beliefs.
Just because they choose to honor the president does not create reflection of praise from the entire world. When awards become prestigious enough, they seem to take on a life of their own though. It’s no longer enough that they reflect the thoughts and feelings of the awarders, but instead they must speak for the entirety of humanity.
Just look at the Heisman Trophy. What began as an award given by a glorified gym in the Northeast is now viewed as the greatest honor possible for a college football player. This of course causes a great deal of consternation among people who do not think the best player in college football is a quarterback with excellent stats from a strong team in a major conference every year.
But why the stressing about who gets it every year? It’s clearly biased and voted on only by a small smattering of sports people throughout the country, but mankind has seemingly decided it alone must reflect the beliefs of entire nation. In reality though, it is simply one award of many which society has assigning high value.
The Nobel Prize germinates from the creator of dynamite’s will. Yet, since its founding society has decided that it is one of the most important honors any person can receive. Out of the millions of awards thrown about every year, it somehow became important above all others.
As soon as one realizes that these awards in no way represent anyone except those who give the awards, there is simply no reason to become agitated when they are not given to your favored choice. If the award is poor, then quit paying attention to it. If everyone followed that one simple rule, the power of awards to rule over people so passionately would evaporate.
If you believe the Nobel Prize is a sham, then ignore it. If enough people agree with you, then it will fade out of importance to society. The Heisman Trophy is a terrible representation of college football? Then quit obsessing about it, and it will fade into the background along with the myriad of other college football player of the year awards.
It is the height of laziness to pick a random award in every category of possible honor, and decide that one award will be the highest standard in the field. Awards are generated by a given group of people, represent their beliefs and biases and under ideal thinking should be nothing more.
There are solutions even if one feels that the wrong person has been honored. Nothing stops average Joe from taking some scrap medal and fashioning his own award for however he feels deserves accolades for their accomplishments. If you lack expertise, people will probably think you are mad, but it surely represents you better than an award given in Sweden.
But, there is no point in getting bent out of shape about who does or does not receive any award. Any award has only the power we choose to give it. If it is not worthwhile, then it will fade into obscurity. Having a conniption fit is never the correct protest. Instead, simply don’t even acknowledge it ever happened.
Tim Riley is an MBA graduate student. E-mail opinions@kykernel.com.
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