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 02:02
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
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.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
There you go.^†
[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."
When he's standing, in front of you
You can have your cake and eat it too
What were some things that the ancient Greeks excelled at compared to the Romans?
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Whatever.
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Don't call it a rom-com: With wit and heart, "Materialists" transcends the tired form - Salon.com
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
[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.
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Did another parent ever tell you something about your child that you didn’t know?
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
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:
When sharing a wife, is it best with your buddy or a stranger?
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
What is a real life example of the Streisand Effect?
"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?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
If freedom of speech is absolute, how come it's not applied for private spaces and for the Internet?
(Mumbles of assent)
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Whatever.
At what stage in your life did you realize, "No, I can't do this any more" and walk out? Why?