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?
13.06.2025 02:31
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Why do so many guys love anime girls?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Whatever.
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Why hasn't Japan legalized same-sex marriage?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
"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.
"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?
Whatever.
Which one is better to guys, boobs or butt?
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
There you go.^†
When he's standing, in front of you
CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk's companies report positive developments amid his return to work - CNBC
"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?"
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
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:
Thoughts on an 8-1 Rangers win - Lone Star Ball
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.
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
(Mumbles of assent)
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Why do some men love sucking cocks?
[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."
You can have your cake and eat it too
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
500-Million-Year-Old Mystery Fossil Rewrites Early Animal Evolution - SciTechDaily