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 07:24
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
[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."
Whatever.
What is the most overrated pleasure? Why?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Whatever.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Have you ever witnessed political correctness harm someone?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
I am 13 and I am planning to run away. What should I do to succeed?
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
"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?"
How much of lounge pianists playing is from repertoire, and how much is improvised?
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?"
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
There you go.^†
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
(Mumbles of assent)
Why did Sumire's summoning Nue act strangely in response to Kawaki's karma?
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
When he's standing, in front of you
What is the best way to end a relationship with someone who has future plans with you?
[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.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Yankees Considering Starts For Ben Rice At Catcher - MLB Trade Rumors
You can have your cake and eat it too
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
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.
Is there a correlation between being a medium and mental health?