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: 18.06.2025 03:08
"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"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Why is Jack Smith arguing that presidents should not have full immunities as Trump is requesting?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
[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."
How do I deal with autistic burnout/meltdown/shutdown when cooking?
You can have your cake and eat it too
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
"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?"
Does any other guys get turned on by dick pic makes you lick lips because you what to suck?
Whatever.
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? 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.
Apple’s Upgrades to CarPlay, iPad and Vision Pro Outshine Liquid Glass - Bloomberg.com
[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.
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Have you ever gone to a porn theater with your wife?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
When he's standing, in front of you
What do you think of the Quora group "It's Ok to Be White" for people who are proud of being white?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
(Mumbles of assent)
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Which branch of engineering is better: ECE or Civil?
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:
There you go.^†