Logo

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?

11.06.2025 06:02

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?

Whatever.

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

What are some ways to identify and avoid logical fallacies, such as straw man and red herring, in an argument?

"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"

When he's standing, in front of you

… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*

YieldMax® ETFs Announces Distributions on XYZY, WNTR, SMCY, AIYY, MSTY, and Others - GlobeNewswire

^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).

"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"

They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.

What measures are shipping companies taking to navigate around conflict zones like the Red Sea and Black Sea?

Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

You can have your cake and eat it too

Can you make a fake K-pop group? It can be with any idols.

"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?"

There you go.^†

"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."

India Is Breaking Apart — Geologists Detect Deep Continental Fracture - The Daily Galaxy

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

(Mumbles of assent)

"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"

What is your craziest college sex story?

[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.

[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"

A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

It sounds like WWE has an explosive angle planned for SmackDown - Cageside Seats

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.

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Do you think the beginning of movies is often better than the rest of the film? Is this a common opinion or do others share this view?

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:

"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"

[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."

Is there porn on TikTok?