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 00:58
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
There you go.^†
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
What's the biggest myth about illegal immigrants?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
You can have your cake and eat it too
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
How is the legalization of same-sex marriage impacting societal norms in the USA?
Whatever.
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).
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:
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Is 1500 calories enough for a 5’3 15-year-old who is non-active?
[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."
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
The latest on the Knicks' coaching search and their interest in Jason Kidd - Marc Stein | Substack
When he's standing, in front of you
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.
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Man called in bomb threat after missing flight at Detroit Metro Airport, feds say - The Detroit News
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Whatever.
When was the first time you felt discriminated against because you were female?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
[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.
"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?"
(Mumbles of assent)
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences