Nobel disease

Nobel disease or Nobelitis is an informal term for the embrace of strange or scientifically unsound ideas by some Nobel Prize winners, usually later in life. Use of the term embodies an attitude that has been illustrated and exemplified by the author Thomas Kuhn in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which describes the friction opposed by those operating within an incumbent scientific paradigm to the motion imparted by those proposing new ideas and perspectives, which may herald a paradigm shift. It has been argued that the effect results, in part, from a tendency for Nobel winners to feel empowered by the award to speak on topics outside their specific area of expertise, although it is unknown whether Nobel Prize winners are more prone to this tendency than other individuals. Paul Nurse, co-winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, warned later laureates against "believing you are expert in almost everything, and being prepared to express opinions about most issues with great confidence, sheltering behind the authority that the Nobel Prize can give you". Nurse also noted that media play a role in reinforcing this tendency, observing that after receiving his Nobel Prize, journalists had begun to take him seriously when he commented on issues about which he knew little. "Nobel disease" has been described as a tongue-in-cheek term.