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?
16.06.2025 03:13
(Mumbles of assent)
[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."
"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?"
Does the Hamas charter specifically call for the death of all Jews and the destruction of Israel?
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.
Whatever.
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:
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
You can have your cake and eat it too
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Why do men prefer women below the age of 30?
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
When he's standing, in front of you
Why do people always talk about Ohio as it's a dangerous city?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
[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.
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
There you go.^†
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
What are some common examples of human hypocrisy?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Whatever.
Why can’t conservatives accept the fact that they are stupid?
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
If Trump were to lose in 2024, would that be the end of his grip on the Republican Party?
… 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.
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Is the Shia claim true that Imam Ali was born inside the Kaaba?