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: 28.06.2025 00:00
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Finebaum on House settlement: NCAA dead, Olympic and women sports crushed, football wins - AL.com
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
When he's standing, in front of you
Brewers Move Aaron Civale To Bullpen - MLB Trade Rumors
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Michigan International Speedway weekend schedule, TV info for NASCAR Cup, Truck, ARCA - NBC Sports
Whatever.
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
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:
Est dolore nobis praesentium dicta voluptas aut.
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
[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."
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
There you go.^†
"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?"
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 anyone or anything overthrow your belief in the Jewish God?
You can have your cake and eat it too
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
The Simple Rule That Seems To Govern How Life Is Organized On Earth - IFLScience
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.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
Samsung is giving these Galaxy phones a big One UI upgrade - here's which models qualify - ZDNET
(Mumbles of assent)
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
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.
Broadcom CEO On VMware Renewals, VCF Customers And Tomahawk 6 - CRN Magazine