Piero Angela. Honorary degree

I never fully understood Honorary Degrees (oops, Diplomas?!)

Honestly, even I never understood them. They are intended to be a form of recognition for those who have demonstrated knowledge and skills in a branch of human knowledge at least equal to those of a graduate in that specific cultural "sector." However, certainly, the thing either applies to everyone or it applies to no one. I know people who are not electronic engineers but who know electronics perhaps better than many graduates (one example: Livio Argentini), but it doesn't seem to me that he was given an honorary degree. It must also be said that for many, receiving an honorary degree could be seen as a sort of shortcut, in the sense that everyone had to sweat for their degree and it is not fair that just because someone is in the spotlight they get a degree like that without going through the whole process... I say this despite being happy for Piero Angela because I consider him a decidedly estimable person of great culture.

I fully share Simone Renzi's thought

torre1957 wrote:

I fully share Simone Renzi's thought

me too. fully.... spotlights always count for a lot (let's say 90%).

I would add that usually Ad Honorem degrees are awarded to people at the end of their careers, who do not derive any particular benefit from them. A bit like "lifetime achievement awards" that are often given to artists just to have them as guests for free. I suspect that in this case it went the same way: that academy of so-and-so in Imola gets a bit of publicity, has Piero Angela play for ten minutes in the Theater before a concert, and thus fills the theater halfway with Quark enthusiasts who want to see Piero Angela; whether he plays the piano or dances the mambo makes no difference...

leoravera wrote:

I will add that usually Ad Honorem degrees are awarded to people at the end of their careers, who do not derive any particular benefit from them. A bit like "lifetime achievement awards" that are often given to artists just to have them as guests for free. I suspect that in this case it went the same way: that so-and-so academy in Imola gets a bit of publicity, has Piero Angela play for ten minutes in the Theater before a concert, and thus fills the theater halfway with Quark enthusiasts who want to see Piero Angela; whether he plays the piano or dances the mambo makes no difference...

Well, I was there!

Aside from the fact that Piero Angela played for 5 minutes, entry was free and, above all, what interested me—and I suppose the vast majority of the audience—was listening to the Swingle Singers.

There were many young people, and that is not bad at all. Surely the Academy of Imola must have gained some publicity but, in reality, it was a magnificent evening and I don't see what the point of all these controversies is.

It doesn't seem like controversy to me, perhaps a subjective analysis. After all, this is what is done on forums.

TheSimon wrote:

They don't seem like controversies to me, but rather a
subjective analysis. After all, this is what is done on forums.

Well, forums serve precisely for this too: to say that sometimes subjective analyses seem more characterized by controversy than anything else.

Let it be clear: this, naturally, is also a
subjective opinion.

Exactly