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: 02.07.2025 00:14
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Whatever.
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:
Calvin Pickard Saved The Day - Defector
[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."
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
How John Cena recreated CM Punk’s Pipe Bomb promo and changed his farewell tour - Cageside Seats
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
[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.
What do you wear when you are alone at home?
Whatever.
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Trump administration, for 1st time, returns wrongly deported migrant to US - ABC News
"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?"
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Microsoft Installs Emergency Update On Windows PCs - Forbes
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
You can have your cake and eat it too
When he's standing, in front of you
Is there a future where LA's wildfire seasons no longer exist?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
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.
There you go.^†
Attenborough's Ocean a Brutal, Beautiful Wake-up Call - Newser
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
(Mumbles of assent)