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?
13.06.2025 12:21
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.
[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."
What is your analysis of Walter White from Breaking Bad?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Why do narcissists devour so much sugar (candy, ice cream, donuts, etc., in huge amounts at a time)?
When he's standing, in front of you
(Mumbles of assent)
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
Why hasn't Japan legalized same-sex marriage?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Whatever.
Do you think your landlord should have a key to your room?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
You can have your cake and eat it too
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
"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."
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Why do some guys treat girls so badly?
[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.
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Top Cardiovascular Researcher Sounds Alarm Over Current Heart Health Guidelines - SciTechDaily
There you go.^†
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 wait any longer for the one you love?