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 09:42
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
(Mumbles of assent)
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Can someone write me a sex story?
You can have your cake and eat it too
When he's standing, in front of you
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
What are the easiest stores for shoplifting?
Whatever.
Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Mars’ Mysterious Dark Streaks Are NOT Caused by Water! Here’s the Real Story - The Daily Galaxy
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.^*
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"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?"
[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."
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
At what stage in your life did you realize, "No, I can't do this any more" and walk out? Why?
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
What is the most memorable thing that happened in your college days?
There you go.^†
[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.
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Can you provide some examples of music with a free form structure?
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.
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
Why is there so much free porn on the internet?
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this: