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?
16.06.2025 01:56
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
… 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.
What are some reasons why men may not want to date a woman who can pay her own bills?
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Whatever.
Is it possible to revive a dead person in real life with black magic?
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:
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Whatever.
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
When he's standing, in front of you
What do you think about Matt Gatz as an attorney general?
[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:
There you go.^†
Is BPD real or just an excuse?
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.
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"
If Jesus was crucified by Governor Pontius Pilate, why does the Quran deny his death?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
[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.
"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?"
If women aren't shallow, why do most tall, good-looking men have girlfriends?
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
How does Bollywood influence Indian culture?
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
(Mumbles of assent)
You can have your cake and eat it too