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?
12.06.2025 07:29
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.
[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."
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
(Mumbles of assent)
Six killed by Israeli gunfire near Gaza aid site, Hamas officials say - BBC
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Whatever.
Man called in bomb threat after missing flight at Detroit Metro Airport, feds say - The Detroit News
Whatever.
When he's standing, in front of you
There you go.^†
[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.
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
"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?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
What is your juiciest sex story?
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Why do I want to be caught sucking dick by my wife?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
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:
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Scientists Discover Promising New Alzheimer’s Treatment - SciTechDaily
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
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.