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: 20.06.2025 12:02
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
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?"
Do older men realize that younger women usually do not prefer them?
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.^†
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
What kind of person does a narcissist hate?
[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."
[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?"
Why did my ex replace me so fast?
Whatever.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
What are the ten cars that make me no longer feel inferior?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
(Mumbles of assent)
Why is Trump so disliked worldwide?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
You can have your cake and eat it too
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Can a mother forget her child after she puts him or her up for adoption?
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:
"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?"
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Which current F1 drivers should switch teams based on historical patterns?
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.
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
What is one thing nice you did for someone today or something they did for you?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Whatever.