What Does The Nobel Prize Signify?

At first glance the Nobel Prize appears to offer recognition of work that advances science or the human condition. This is validated most of the time when researchers in the physical sciences like physics and chemistry receive the Nobel Prize for groundbreaking discoveries.

But what happens when the Nobel Prize is awarded for contributions to the human sciences such as economics, literature and for peace. The key here is understanding the correct methodology for the social sciences. The committee consisting of five members elected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences still clings to the empirical methodology (which is perfectly appropriate for the physical sciences) when evaluating economics, which sets the stage for evaluating the peace prize and the literature prize. In other words, no prize for peace or for literature could possibly go to anyone who would destroy the economy, or so you would think. But without a proper understanding of the subjective methodology how can scientific advancements in the social sciences be assessed?

Now let's look at the record. Have the winners of the Nobel Prize for economics advanced the science using the subjectivist methodology? No, almost exclusively they have been empiricists. Do these awards signify advancements? The awards simply represent a scientific bias, then given in the name of science. Hence, they signify and reward pseudo-science.

With this bias firmed entrenched it can be no surprise to see pseudo-science work its way into the other awards. This is one explanation of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore for his political campaign for global warming. If you think Al Gore understands environmental science then explain why his analysis differs from that of S. Fred Singer, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia.

The explanation is simple. Gore is a political animal and he is an ego-driven interventionist. The pseudo-science practiced in the evaluation process by the committee consisting of five members elected by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (in other words, the use of the empirical methodology in the social sciences) leads to them awarding prizes to those practicing pseudo-sciences (Al Gore and almost all of the winners of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economics Sciences from its beginning in 1969 up to the present).

The point of this blog is to share economic wisdom. Economic wisdom is what enabled me to see the flaws in the selection of economists for these prestigious awards and it brings into question the other works considered worthy of Nobel Prize awards, at least for those in the social sciences.