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: 27.06.2025 00:37
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.
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
This Is The Most Underrated Supplement That Actually Supports Men's Health - MindBodyGreen
When he's standing, in front of you
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Whatever.
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
What exactly is female squirting? Is it only urine or a combination of liquids?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
There you go.^†
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Big brands are staying quiet this Pride Month - CNN
"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?"
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
The ‘inexcusable’ mistake Knicks made again and again in season-ending loss - New York Post
Whatever.
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Yankees vs Red Sox Predictions, Picks, Odds, Best Bet, Start Time - Action Network
[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."
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:
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
What was the craziest place that you had sex with someone in public?
(Mumbles of assent)
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
[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.