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?
09.06.2025 01:24
You can have your cake and eat it too
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
There you go.^†
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
"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 do people think Mirko is boring in My Hero Academia?
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.
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Animal Friends’ Delayed to 2026 at Warner Bros. - The Hollywood Reporter
Whatever.
(Mumbles of assent)
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
What does it mean to you to live a life that reflects biblical values?
[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."
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 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 would an older small breed dog become obsessive about hygiene?
"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?"
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:
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Why do flat-Earthers think the Earth is flat?
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
CrowdStrike Swings to Loss as Expenses From Last Summer’s Outage Persist - WSJ
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Musk-Trump Spat Hits New High As Musk’s Ex Piles On - HuffPost
When he's standing, in front of you
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
As a woman, what would be you response to a male friend’s offer of a full body massage?