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: 21.06.2025 06:37
When he's standing, in front of you
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
[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."
Were any US Generals hurt or killed yesterday in Damascus, Syria, yesterday 5/9/24?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"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).
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
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.
Novel coating shields iron from rust with 99.6% efficiency - Phys.org
(Mumbles of assent)
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Watch These Broadcom Stock Price Levels After Post-Earnings Slide - Investopedia
There you go.^†
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
[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?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Physicists Unveil New Quantum Super Material That Could Revolutionize Electronics - SciTechDaily
Whatever.
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
You can have your cake and eat it too
‘King of the Hill’ voice actor Jonathan Joss is fatally shot in Texas - The Washington Post
Whatever.
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"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?"
Which is better, a naked picture of some one you know or porn videos?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
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 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: