I Don't Think They Should Call that MacArthur Award the "Genius" Grant
They recently announced the 2024 MacArthur Award "Genius" grant fellows, and I couldn't help but notice that once again I did not get the call. That's OK though, because I'm no genius. The problem of course is that I am not sure any of the awardees are geniuses either. I think the term "genius" gets tossed around a bit too liberally, thereby devaluing it. I suppose one could argue that in some way we all have our own special kind of genius, but, if that is the criteria, the term is meaningless. It's almost like our culture of rampant grade inflation has spread to our awards selection process. It reminds me of that radio show "News from Lake Wobegon" on NPR with Garrison Keillor where "all the kids are above average." I never found it that funny but I lived in Hyde Park, Oak Park, and Evanston at various points, and the aging white liberals around me used to blare it like it was Tupac or Hector Lavoe.
