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?
10.06.2025 08:59
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 wait any longer for the world to begin?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
How is sex with a woman for gay men?
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."
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Why in my 60s do I have a strong desire to suck cock and swallow?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
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.
(Mumbles of assent)
Are female judges more lenient than male ones?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
[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.
When he's standing, in front of you
All international travelers should get measles vaccinations, CDC says - AP News
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Navigating some of the thorny questions of estate planning - NPR
You can have your cake and eat it too
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
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"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Why do people procrastinate and how can they stop?
"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?"
There you go.^†
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Why do foolish atheists think their strange delusional theories are facts?
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:
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"