How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage to win a Nobel Prize in physics when computer science already has its own Nobel Prize equivalent in the Turing Awards?
Last Updated: 30.06.2025 13:47
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
There you go.^†
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Non est eum facere impedit aut dignissimos tempora.
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Do you usually wear your panties over or under your pantyhose?
(Mumbles of assent)
Whatever.
In December 1973, when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, comedian Tom Lehrer dropped his mic and stamped on it—satire had just died.
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
"Hey guys, AI is pretty big so let's centre our prizes on it this year. We can get some attention, and it's all about advertising, at the end of the day, isn't it?"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
A fireball over desert mountains photo of the day for May 30, 2025 - Space
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
When he's standing, in front of you
Report: New Development in Trey Hendrickson Contract Situation - Sports Illustrated
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Whatever.
[Younger voice] "But wait a minute, Ising-Lenz goes back to the 1920's. And didn't Hinton plagiarise rather a lot? He also didn't invent modern backprop, did he, that's Linnainmaa? And Amari preceded Hopfield, too. That's not a good look."
What are examples of real life forced feminization?
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Walmart Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order: some US customers can buy it again - The Shortcut | Matt Swider
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
[The basic structure of artificial neural networks] has close similarities with spin models in statistical physics applied to magnetism or alloy theory. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes research exploiting this connection to make breakthrough methodological advances in the field of ANN.
You can have your cake and eat it too
‘Superman’ Final Trailer Shows David Corenswet “Doing Important Stuff” - The Hollywood Reporter
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
In awarding prizes, the Nobel Committees often seem only marginally more competent than MTG is at explaining meteorology. And if they can give a literature prize for lyrics like:
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
How would you describe modern day Russian society, beyond just politics?