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?
10.06.2025 09:57
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
(Mumbles of assent)
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Titan's Atmosphere 'Wobbles Like a Gyroscope' – And No One Knows Why - ScienceAlert
"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?
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.
Chrysler Is 100 Years Old, and It's 'Back On,' Stellantis Design Boss Gilles Says - Road & Track
Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
There you go.^†
Marchand nets 2OT winner as Florida evens Finals - ESPN
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
^† 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?"
Is the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting a preview of what the US is going to do to Taiwan?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
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:
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
[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?"
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why do some children hate their parents?
When he's standing, in front of you
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Do all armies have the same rank structure?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"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?"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
S&P Dow Jones Makes No Changes to S&P 500 in Quarterly Rebalance - Bloomberg
[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.