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IFIA Magazine - Mar ch 2021   |



          a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who,
          during  the  preceding  year,  shall  have  conferred  the  greatest  benefit  to  mankind
          Have you ever wondered to whom Alfred Nobel’s Prize is awarded?
          Alfred Nobel dictated that his entire remaining estate should be used to endow “prizes to
          those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.”
          Who do you believe grants the best benefit to humanity? Researchers? Discoverers? Teachers?
          Engineers?
          How about the inventors?
          Isn’t it right that the active imagination of Edison led us out of darkness? Isn’t it right that
          humanity conquered the barriers of distance by the emergence of telephone and computers,
          the internet video chatting? Have you ever thought to whom you owe all of the enjoyment
          you gain from playing video games? Would it be possible to travel long distances without all
          of the transportation means? The words fall short against such immense accomplishments
          achieved by the inventors throughout history, which have paved the way for our convenient
          and desirable kind of life.
          Today the unequal distribution of Alfred the Nobel prize has been the target of complaint
          among inventors inventors all around the world. The great minds gathered in IFIA international
          congress held in Sweden, Stockholm, from August 25 to 26 to voice their concerns.
          The disappointing fact is that the balance of awarding the Nobel Prize between an inventor and
          a researcher is so heavily weighted towards the researcher that the inventor rarely comes out
          with a favorable share.
          Talking statistically, 80 percent of Nobel Prize is granted to the researchers while a minor %20 is
          devoted to the inventors. Who is to blame? Alfred Nobel? Of course not. He has not drawn any
          distinction between them. In his will, the laureates are the researchers and inventors without
          placing a higher value on one of them. To further illuminate this fact, let’s take a look at an
          excerpt of his will:
          “The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the
          capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which
          shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall
          have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind. The said interest shall be divided into five
          equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made
          the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics; one part to the person
          who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the
          person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or
          medicine; one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most
          outstanding work in an ideal direction; and one part to the person who shall have done the
          most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing
          armies and the holding and promotion of peace congresses.
          So, who is to solve the ongoing injustice? We, as the International Federation of Inventors
          Association and the representative of our members, urge the executors of the Alfred Nobel
          Foundation to work out this problem and endow the Nobel Prize equally.



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