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 00:42
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Belmont Stakes: Hill Road faces challenges beyond tough field - Horse Racing Nation
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.
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
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:
[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."
AI risks 'broken' career ladder for college graduates, some experts say - ABC News
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
When he's standing, in front of you
Do many women shave their vaginas?
There you go.^†
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
O'Malley's dad 'super relaxed' cornering title bout - ESPN
Whatever.
Whatever.
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why is the government destroying the homeless instead of helping them?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
You can have your cake and eat it too
What do flat Earthers think causes the "magical downward force"?
(Mumbles of assent)
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
[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.
Who has experienced what they called a happy accident (bestiality)?
"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?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Which current F1 drivers should switch teams based on historical patterns?