They are kind of tedious.

We compensate one group much more highly than the other, follow one group much more closely than the other, etc.

Media says we demand it. Do we really? No one asked me whether I'd rather celebrate entertainers than cardiovascular specialists or nurses or teachers, or union heroes, etc.!

or cardiovascular doctors are all that interested in perpetual kudos like actors are. Sometimes I wonder if the actors are even bored with the huge amount of award shows they are expected to go to. If the awards shows weren't so boring, I have to say I may watch to see the gowns. Life doesn't have to be serious every moment.

USA! USA! USA!

and I don't think that people save lives with the thought that they may get invited to an awards show, or not.

In a Scrubs episode, Zac Braff's character made some joke about there being no point in attending a medical awards dinner because "Dr. Chalhoub" always wins all the awards, which I assume was a reference to actor Tony Chalhoub, who won three emmys for his portrayal of Adrian Monk. But, in real life, other professions that make a contribution to society beyond entertaining us do have awards and even award ceremonies. But, as I said, our priorities don't include giving them homage. Or, at least media claims it is only reflecting our priorities.

disease theretofore thought incurable?

Also, I think there is a middle ground beyond next to no publicity at all for accomplishment in some fields and one award show after another for movie actors, television actors, stage actors, singers, country singers, makers of music videos, etc.

I would read about it in the newspaper. But no, I wouldn't watch it on tv. If I were a scientist or doctor I probably would, because then I would have the wherewithal to understand what the hell they were talking about.

or hearing them announced on TV.

"Who are you wearing" red carpet ceremonies would probably be a dud, too.

doesn't mean they don't know how to dress for a formal occasion.

I don't know that they would want any of this televised any way. Not everybody wants to be on tv.

accessories is a different question.

Not everybody wants to be on tv.

is to sell more records or movies.

Not sure what the "Kennedy Center honors" are doing.

Then there's the "Presidential medal of freedom" which often goes to a celebrity or politician.

I see there are tons of them for music and film, althoug Yo Yo Ma has won one and Gene Simmons hasn't. Wait, he was born in Israel? I never knew that until just now. Okay, Tommy Shaw then.

And Friedrich von Hayek? Really? And who could be more deserving of a national honor than Strom Thurmond? Maybe they should give one to Jefferson Davis posthumously.

Do medical and scientific journals give out end of the year plaudits within their fields? There are also government grants if people are doing what is considered to be good work. So there are some awards for that.

The problem is that if i read about how someone has, say, made great strides in leukemia treatment i'm unlikely to have an opinion or even understand what is going on. On the other hand if someone says that, on the whole, American Sniper was a better movie than Selma, I definitely can have an opinion on that and discuss it as nausea (and I'm not the only one). So giving air time to award shows is good business.

It is a bit of a warped priority but I don't know how you change it.

Bryant

I am not even sure if it is our real priority or if media just claims it is. If media were to give brain surgeons the hype it gives celebrities, would we follow suit?

I imagine if somebody was at an event and told people they were a brain surgeon that people would practically start genuflecting in awe. I would not put them in the category of unsung heroes.

Remember when Braveheart won best picture? Yeah. No credibility.

But I do think there are to many entertainment award shows.

I do read the accounts of Nobel Prize winners, though.

I don't really care if entertainers win awards. It just doesn't seem to matter one way or another, really. It's just not an issue for me. I'm not sure why it's an issue for anyone, really.

It was a serious post, with a point to make. I was not being humorous, I think.

Personally, I don't watch awards shows; neither do I watch Nobel prize awards.

usually a clear signal that the poster is making up stuff, not merely rewording. Yours is no exception.

What is the link between "honoring" performances and honoring good works?

What is the link between honoring entertainment industry performances lavishly and with mind numbing detail and repetition and not honoring more socially valuable (presumably) kinds of accomplishments much, if at all?

What are we working so hard to encourage and why? And why are we not working harder to encourage other things?

My OP simply pointed out something to consider and asked a question. If you don't think it should be considered, then, don't consider it.

are made to do just that, promote the industry and the products of the industry. The shows get put on TV because they are full of entertainers and entertainments people want to see. The awards shows serve that industry in ways they would not serve other fields. Mass popularity is vital to entertainers and films, utterly worthless to research scientists. The personalities of the professionals involved in showbiz are major components of the product, that is not so with a vaccine or a bit of physics. Without attention, the lab work continues apace. Without attention, showbiz closes up shop.
Invent a new heart valve, you need others in your profession to know about it, not the people who will eventually pay to have one installed but those who will install it.
Make a movie, you need as many people on the planet to know about it as possible, so that enough of them might select your movie over others to allow you to make profit and then another movie. If movie people told only other movie people about their products, they'd fail.

Most humans like recognition for doing something spectacular in their respective fields.

I am not even sure the bulk of the award shows get high ratings. Those broadcast on major networks, maybe. The Oscars, definitely. All of them, though?

I don't question at all that show business endeavors benefit from attention.

Anything that remains on TV gets ratings or it would be gone. That's also just business. It's possible to be a huge novelist and never give an interview or be photographed. It's possible to invent a vaccine while being a hermit. It is not possible to be a film actor who is invisible.
It's one of the few perks of that industry as an industry that others will pay attention to such things as awards because others feel ties to films and to performers and to music in ways that they simply do not feel for that guy who said that thing about string theory. Look at 'American Sniper'. Passionate feelings on both sides on that film. Like sports, there is a team aspect to these things, people see them as having meanings beyond the individual. That is the attraction for those who watch those shows, and that is inherently different in the arts than it is in other fields. People feel they as audience members are part of a film or a play, and they are correct to feel that way. They do not feel that way about some new medication that was developed which they take for their illness. Fact is, people take life saving drugs and never even ask who invented it. Why don't they start fan clubs for them? They could. But they don't. Perhaps they should.

Even professionally, I am not sure mass recognition is worthless, though.

If strides toward certain other endeavors were as widely recognized and lionized, it might well affect a number of professional things.

Do they still do that?

Heard a commercial the other day that made me think in terms that would never happen. That is, instead of the typical "Win a trip to the Stupor Bowl!!1!" it would be "Win an all expenses-paid trip to Oslo for the Nobel Prize ceremonies! Meet Nobel Laureates! Royalty-class tuxedo and limousine service provided!" And so on

But, we live in a society that only wants to be entertained and not educated (much less even have the education needed to understand why each recipient of the Nobel prizes were picked.)

Just to point out that those of us that would enjoy watching the Nobel Prize ceremonies are likely more educated than the masses preferring to watch some entertainment awards show

have. Who knows? Brainwashing shows we can be a malleable species.

Sports, movies, television, music, pundit-based "news". Those are all highly profitable forms of entertainment. Unless you're running a charter school or a private university, education isn't profitable, at least not from a media standpoint. That's why Discovery, The "Learning" Channel, the Science Channel, A&E, the History Channel, and any other cable network that would seem to be about educating the masses doesn't actually do that any more.

Entertainment sells. Education does not. Think about how long CPB and PBS have struggled over the years just to get viewer funding (nevermind government funding from people that do understand how powerful educational programming can be on the populace.)

So, some media mogul would have to create the kind of hype that would instill in the general populace that intelligence and education are good things. Considering the War On Smart People by the GOP, I don't see that happening any time soon...

to hear the speeches from the Nobel Prize winners being televised. I like the artwork of the prizes also, each diploma different and custom made for the winner. Would be interesting to hear the artists discuss why they designed them the way they did, etc.

That would make for a good lead-in story before the ceremonies began. So long as they didn't get all sickly sweet and sappy like they do for the Olympics

I don't care if they're black, white, green or blue.

I'm of the mind that entertainment is considered... entertaining, allowing us an opportunity to be entertained.

Though I don't consider 567 Nobel prizes to be rare, I'd certainly be frustrated to see them lower the bar to better achieve the 2,800+ of Oscars.