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: 21.06.2025 01:00
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
[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."
[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.
What are some mind-blowing facts that sound unreal but are actually true?
Whatever.
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Whatever.
What kind of person makes you think "how come there are people like that"?
You can have your cake and eat it too
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
As a woman, what would be you response to a male friend’s offer of a full body massage?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
"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?
How do schizophrenia symptoms change throughout the day?
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.
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:
When he's standing, in front of you
Which bands became massively popular for covering songs rather than recording originals?
(Mumbles of assent)
"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'?"
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Mitsubishi Said in Advanced Talks on $8 Billion Aethon Deal - Bloomberg.com
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why am I so wanting to suck a penis?
There you go.^†
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
"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?"