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: 23.06.2025 07:29
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Vitamin B3 Pill Rewinds Premature Aging in Groundbreaking Human Trial - SciTechDaily
[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."
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.
Whatever.
Country music singer opens up about HIV status, sexuality with release of new song - MassLive
(Mumbles of assent)
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
When he's standing, in front of you
Amazon Carries Nintendo Games Again, Including New Switch 2 Exclusives - GameSpot
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Is the Kia Tasman the ugliest ute of all time?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
You can have your cake and eat it too
There you go.^†
PSG vs Inter: Opta Supercomputer Champions League Final Prediction - Opta Analyst
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Is there anything you did that you regret? If so, what is it, and why?
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
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:
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
2025 NHL Draft Combine Notebook: What we learned - Daily Faceoff
"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?"
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
[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.
Inside Sly and the Family Stone’s Great, Lost Live Album - Rolling Stone