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: 19.06.2025 06:31
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
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:
Is there an MBTI personality that is more or less likely to handle stress?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
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.
[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.
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(Mumbles of assent)
There you go.^†
How is the legalization of same-sex marriage impacting societal norms in the USA?
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Why does cocaine makes me want to dress up and get fuck
^* 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."
"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?"
What is the scariest thing that ever happened in your life?
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
When he's standing, in front of you
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Should parents force their kids to go to school when they are sick?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
How do I build muscle easily with isometrics?
You can have your cake and eat it too
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Whatever.
Do countries with free health care generally have co-pays or deductibles to discourage use?