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?
11.06.2025 01:37
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
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:
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Do women really cheat more than men?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Which brand is the best home slippers in the Middle East?
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
(Mumbles of assent)
When he's standing, in front of you
"Oh, Mary!" star Cole Escola manifested their Tony win the old-fashioned way - Salon.com
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Whatever.
Why is Donald Trump criticized by so many people?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
"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?"
Six Types Of Dinosaur Eggs Found In One Place - The Daily Galaxy
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.
[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.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
I've never read the book. What did Dorian Grey do that was so immoral and sinful?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
What is one thing you've learned from life?
You can have your cake and eat it too
There you go.^†
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
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."
Why do narcissists and especially covert narcissists always play the victim?