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shminux comments on [LINK] 2014 Fields Medals and Nevanlinna Prize anounced - Less Wrong
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Comments (17)
I think Bostrom puts it nicely in his new book "Superintelligence":
What award does the recipient get if they actually accomplish "something important"?
Not really an answer, but one could say that a scientist should conduct their research with one hungry eye on the Nobel Peace Prize.
(Obviously, this is a quip; cf medical research etc etc. But I think it conveys the spirit pretty well)
Specifically the Nobel Peace Prize is pretty much discredited nowadays, it became a rather meaningless political gesture.
Nobel Prizes, especially in physiology/medicine and economics, are probably more indicative of social impact (which is what I think Bostrom's colleague meant when he used the word "important").
He was explicitly talking about mathematicians, in math Fields medal is the equivalent of Nobel. Besides, the same exact criticism Bostrom levels against Fields can be applied to Nobels.