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: 02.07.2025 03:01
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."
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
When he's standing, in front of you
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
What is your favorite underrated movie and why? What makes it underrated? How did you find it?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
(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:
How come Jesus died on Friday and rose on Sunday? That's not 3 days and three nights.
"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?"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
How often do you watch the news on TV?
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Eum labore eaque vel aspernatur magnam modi rem.
Whatever.
Whatever.
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Can I bring a tub of whey protein to the airport?
[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.
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)
What is the funniest joke you've been told that you still think about to this day?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
You can have your cake and eat it too
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
What is the most inappropriate thing your wife has done in front of you?
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
^† They rationalise their decision thusly: