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?
13.06.2025 03:55
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
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?"
[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.
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Scientists find 34-million-year-old snake that changes our understanding of evolution - Earth.com
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
(Mumbles of assent)
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
United-JetBlue Tie Up Leaves American Airlines Bloodied - Live and Let's Fly
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?"
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
From 1 to 10, how dark is the Naruto fandom? Why?
You can have your cake and eat it too
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
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:
What kind of person makes you think "how come there are people like that"?
[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."
Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
ChatGPT Is Making Us Weird - Business Insider
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Do the British people realize how much American people absolutely despise them?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
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
Vanessa Bryant Denies Pregnancy Rumors with Rihanna Meme on Instagram - Bleacher Report
There you go.^†
"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.^*