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 04:42
Whatever.
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
[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'?"
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Tom Hanks finally breaks his silence on daughter’s bombshell memoir: ‘Not surprised’ - New York Post
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
When he's standing, in front of you
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
"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?"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Whatever.
Is Billie Piper Playing the Doctor or Rose? 5 Theories About ‘Doctor Who’ Twist - TV Insider
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
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.
Do you wear tights for warmth or to make your legs look better?
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
[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.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
2025 NHL Draft Combine Notebook: What we learned - Daily Faceoff
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
There you go.^†
You can have your cake and eat it too
(Mumbles of assent)
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 is going on a date today so much different than it was when I was young?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Project Century Gets A Strange New Title - GameSpot