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: 01.07.2025 04:34
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
[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."
Carbon capture method mines cement ingredients from the air - Tech Xplore
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
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.
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Quantum Time-Freeze: Lasers Lock Quantum States 1,000x Longer - SciTechDaily
Whatever.
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
(Mumbles of assent)
An unexpected Seahawks player appears in Madden 26 reveal trailer - Field Gulls
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
What the ‘Revenge Tax’ Is in the Tax Bill—and How It Could Pummel the Dollar - Barron's
Whatever.
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
The High Stakes of Kevin Durant’s Closing Act - The Ringer
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
There you go.^†
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
"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?"
[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.
You can have your cake and eat it too
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Costco opens a whole new kind of store - TheStreet
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
When he's standing, in front of you
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:
Google Confirms Most Gmail Users Must Upgrade All Their Accounts - Forbes