I wonder what the point of giving them $50K is. Are the kind of people who would do these kinds of things motivated by this kind of money? What’s the extra benefit of the money over just cashless recognition? Extra publicity? Are there cheaper ways to get that extra publicity? What about naming things after them?
Or do we need to give them cash to get them to accept the reward or for the public to not look down on the award?
In the case of Petrov, I’m under the impression (based on a documentary about him) that he probably didn’t have much money, and that the prize had an element of “help a hero live in comfort.” This isn’t an impact-focused reason to give money, but does play into the “unsung hero” element (by creating the impression of the hero finally being “sung”/rewarded).
It’s also plausible to me that the prize could have been funded by a donor who really wanted to give out cash rewards, and just worked with FLI to implement their idea (but I have no idea whether this is true and I don’t think it’s likely).
Petrov’s family received the award a bit over a year after he passed away, though, in this case. Of course, I’d imagine he would have wanted his family to live in comfort, too, or maybe the decision was made before his passing.
I wonder what the point of giving them $50K is. Are the kind of people who would do these kinds of things motivated by this kind of money? What’s the extra benefit of the money over just cashless recognition? Extra publicity? Are there cheaper ways to get that extra publicity? What about naming things after them?
Or do we need to give them cash to get them to accept the reward or for the public to not look down on the award?
Good point. I do think it has to be an expensive signal, but why not U$25k instead of 50?
The Nobel Prize comes with a million dollars (9,000,000 SEK). 50k doesn’t seem like that much, in comparison.
In the case of Petrov, I’m under the impression (based on a documentary about him) that he probably didn’t have much money, and that the prize had an element of “help a hero live in comfort.” This isn’t an impact-focused reason to give money, but does play into the “unsung hero” element (by creating the impression of the hero finally being “sung”/rewarded).
It’s also plausible to me that the prize could have been funded by a donor who really wanted to give out cash rewards, and just worked with FLI to implement their idea (but I have no idea whether this is true and I don’t think it’s likely).
Petrov’s family received the award a bit over a year after he passed away, though, in this case. Of course, I’d imagine he would have wanted his family to live in comfort, too, or maybe the decision was made before his passing.