[_2d30]

> When an academic wins a Nobel prize, they have achieved a pinnacle of expertise. No, they've achieved celebrity status (perhaps well-earned by being a top expert). There are those who are experts, but who do not get Nobel prizes. It's not a perfect prize.

You’re mistaking a claim of necessity for a claim of sufficiency.

> They seem to be making a bid to become an elite. They don't get the prize because the ask for it or buy it, and the celebrity status comes with it automatically. Some recipients capitalize on it, for sure. I think "the elites" bring them into their circles on their own.

Hanson is talking about what they do to garner additional publicity with the prize now that they have it, not getting the prize and its status in the first place. You conveniently left out the sentence before that.

> Because we all respect and want to associate with elites far more than with experts. No, we all don't.

Steelmanning Hanson here would suggest reading it as hyperbole. I think a good thought experiment would be “ho many people wanted to hang out with the pre-Nobel winner vs the post-Nobel winner”, however, to illustrate what he is getting at.