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?

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

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.

5 ways Diabetes impacts the eyes - Times of India

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

If gays can get married, why can't I marry my dog or a cheeseburger?

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

[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.

Whatever.

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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:

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

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

This is the safest place to hide when a nuclear bomb strikes - The Brighter Side of News

There you go.^†

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

[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."

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

"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?"

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

Sophia Bush Says She Endured “Every Kind of Abuse” on Show Due to Older Man - The Hollywood Reporter

"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

You can have your cake and eat it too

New COVID variant is spreading. Don’t underestimate it, experts say. - NJ.com

(Mumbles of assent)

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

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

What is your review of House of the Dragon Season 2 finale, Episode 8?

When he's standing, in front of you

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

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

What’s something you did a lot as a kid that you don’t miss now that you’re an adult?