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 00:03
When he's standing, in front of you
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
What are 10 interesting facts about you?
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Whatever.
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"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(Mumbles of assent)
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You can have your cake and eat it too
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
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.
Why is the covert narcissist actively avoiding me when they see me everyday?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Would you respect the US with a woman as president?
There you go.^†
"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?"
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
What was it like being spanked as a kid?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"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?
Why would Joseph Smith say that polygamy was God's law?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Whatever.
[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.
What is one fantasy you have never told anyone about but really want to do?
[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."
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
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: