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 02:10
[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."
You can have your cake and eat it too
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:
Why does he text me first but when I never text first he gets mad?
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Whatever.
What is your review of Hartley`s High School, Kolkata?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Trump leans on GOP senators as they gear up to make changes to his domestic policy bill - CNN
[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.
When he's standing, in front of you
(Mumbles of assent)
BYD sells 382,476 NEVs in May, overseas sales hit new high - CnEVPost
There you go.^†
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
"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?"
What kind of person does a narcissist hate?
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Senate to Review Trump ‘Revenge’ Tax Worrying Wall Street - Bloomberg
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.
[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?"
Why are Trump supporters so incredibly stupid?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Whatever.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Is it safe to say that China is at least 30 years ahead of India?