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: 20.06.2025 09:43
(Mumbles of assent)
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:
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
How do you get people to follow your Quora Space?
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.
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Why do I sweat so much at the gym?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Why is Russia always right? All eyes toward Russian glory!
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
When he's standing, in front of you
Is the Donald Trump Bible any different from a regular Bible? Has Trump altered its contents?
There you go.^†
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Can being annoyed be a sign of getting angry?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Have you ever been instructed/forced to crossdress for the benefit of others?
[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.
[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 followed through being bi-curious?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"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?"
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Whatever.