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?
11.06.2025 00:42
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Eagles star Saquon Barkley stunningly hints he could retire ‘out of nowhere’ - New York Post
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
There you go.^†
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"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."
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:
Milky Way has 50-50 chance of colliding with neighbor galaxy - NewsNation
[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 wait any longer for the one you love?
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.
You can have your cake and eat it too
Whatever.
Facial Stimulation Clears Brain Waste and Boosts Aging Minds - Neuroscience News
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
[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."
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Why is Harley-Davidson dropping diversity initiatives after the right-wing anti-DEI campaign?
When he's standing, in front of you
Whatever.
"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 movies have not aged well?
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Why do men date women they are not really interested in?
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
(Mumbles of assent)
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)