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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: 20.06.2025 00:02

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?

A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

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?"

Why do men suck dick? Me, I can't get enough

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

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.

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

How Apple Created a Custom iPhone Camera for ‘F1’ - WIRED

You can have your cake and eat it too

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*

Who are your 5 or so favorite Quora people?

"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"

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:

"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."

What does it mean if someone asks if it’s pink?

There you go.^†

[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'?"

How many of you have had your parental rights taken away because of lies and no truth whatsoever, and did you prove the lies that were told about you to be false either through drug testing or another way, but still had your rights taken?

[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.

^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).

"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"

A recipe to reverse cancer’s sweet tooth - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

When he's standing, in front of you

"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"

(Mumbles of assent)

Why do narcissists keep calling on the phone after years of separation?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.

Whatever.

Have you ever accidentally found out that you were about to be fired?

Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:

Whatever.

[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"

When Kundalini is awakened accidentally, what can be done?