Ah, the magical season of prizes is once again upon us. The award ceremonies for literary prizes are usually demure, decorous little things, but award shows on TV are like a country music hoedown. And the Oscars rank so high in the culture that actors measure their worth by rehearsing their acceptance speeches. It is, in essence, the world’s way of telling you that you’ve done something noteworthy and valuable. Would the minds and achievements of Copernicus, Galileo, Vermeer or van Gogh have suffered chilling effects from winning prizes?

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