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 02:35
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
You can have your cake and eat it too
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)
[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.
Have you ever been a victim of gaslighting? What happened?
Whatever.
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
[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 the problem between Turkey and Greece?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
"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?"
There you go.^†
Abby Lee Miller Sues Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Claims Doctors Left Catheter in Her Body - TMZ
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
(Mumbles of assent)
When he's standing, in front of you
What are the psychological reasons behind an extreme obsession with another human being?
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:
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Whatever.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Are Americans really as uneducated and ignorant as portrayed in the media?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"