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?
15.06.2025 13:45
[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."
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Whatever.
Can a cop pull you over walking home asking why you are out so late?
When he's standing, in front of you
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Is it sinful for Christians to look at beautiful women?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
(Mumbles of assent)
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
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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:
You can have your cake and eat it too
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Why do some men like older women?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Whatever.
There you go.^†
What is the most offensive thing someone has ever asked you?
[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.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
NASA Goddard Center-wide Email - NASA Watch
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
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
What methods do private investigators use to investigate someone in real life?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Why is only the left side of my vagina bleeding, on and off?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
"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?"
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*