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?
10.06.2025 17:19
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Trump-Musk row fuels 'biggest crisis ever' at Nasa - BBC
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
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:
If you get a chance to have sex with either Kajal Agarwal or Samantha, who would you choose and why?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
When he's standing, in front of you
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Why did my ex-narcissist move so fast with his new supply marriage engagement moving in, etc.?
[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.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
There you go.^†
How was cancer treatment different in the US and the UK?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
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.
BYD sells 382,476 NEVs in May, overseas sales hit new high - CnEVPost
Whatever.
(Mumbles of assent)
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
"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?"
"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."
[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."
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Ryan Lochte’s wife Kayla reveals ‘painful’ divorce after seven years of marriage - New York Post
You can have your cake and eat it too
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Whatever.