MIT “Disobedience Award” Gives Rule-Breakers $250k Prize

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is offering a new prize worth $250,000 for what it calls “ethical disobedience.”

The “Disobedience Award” cash fund will be given to “a person or group engaged in” what the institution “believes is an extraordinary example of disobedience for the benefit of society.”

“You don’t change the world by doing what you’re told,” the project’s website quotes Joichi Ito, director of MIT’s Media Lab.

“This idea came after a realization that there’s a widespread frustration from people trying to figure out how can we effectively harness responsible, ethical disobedience aimed at challenging our norms, rules or laws to benefit society,” the website continues.

Applications for rule-breaking are accepted until May 1.

The outlandish offer is already receiving its share of ridicule from commentators such as Kim Dotcom, who tweeted on Thursday that he thought the prize should go straight to him.

That would be me ?? https://t.co/W2tyTSlfyY — Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) March 8, 2017

Dotcom has been particularly vocal this week following the release of WikiLeaks’ latest data focused on the alleged activities of the CIA.

In a series of tweets, the entrepreneur variously called for shorting of stocks related to global corporations involved in the data, and specifically for Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to “tell the truth.”

He added the CIA was “hurting the US tech industry.”