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 03:30
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
There you go.^†
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Can ringing in the ears be a sign of spiritual awakening?
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
What should you answer when someone says to you in French, "au plaisir de vous revoir"?
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?
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Whatever.
"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 is your review of "Regent", episode 5 of Season 2 House of the Dragon?
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:
[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."
[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.
Have you ever been a victim of gaslighting? What happened?
When he's standing, in front of you
You can have your cake and eat it too
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
(Mumbles of assent)
Why would Trump make conspiracy claims that Haitians are eating pets in Ohio?
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
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 is social media so anti-fee speech, and have they become total BS?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Whatever.
How is it not psychopathic to use someone for sex, even if they agree?