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?
11.06.2025 09:27
You can have your cake and eat it too
When he's standing, in front of you
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
"More problems than it was helping”: Behind the growing distrust of antidepressants - Salon.com
[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.
(Mumbles of assent)
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Star-shaped brain cells may underpin the brain's massive memory storage - Live Science
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
There you go.^†
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
If Trump were to lose in 2024, would that be the end of his grip on the Republican Party?
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Whatever.
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:
Delete Every App On Your Smartphone That’s On This List - Forbes
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
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.^*
Water Discovered Around a Young, Sun-Like Star For First Time - ScienceAlert
[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."
"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?"
Whatever.
Why are people of mixed race seen as more attractive than non-mixed-race people?
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
What techniques can be used to sing like Freddie Mercury if one is unable to hit high notes?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Nvidia CEO Pays Tribute To Late Nintendo President Satoru Iwata In New Switch 2 Video - Kotaku