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?
10.06.2025 09:38
[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.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Who is the greatest light welterweight boxer of all time?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
[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."
Whatever.
"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?"
What are rare earth minerals, and why are they central to Trump’s trade war? - CNN
Whatever.
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
There you go.^†
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A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
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:
Alex, C. Viper, Sagat and Ingrid announced for Street Fighter 6 Season 3 - EventHubs
(Mumbles of assent)
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Why are leftist movements so popular among young people?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
What misfortune led to an important discovery?
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.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
You can have your cake and eat it too
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
When he's standing, in front of you
Putin's uncompromising demands emerge after the latest round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks - AP News