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?

"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?"

You can have your cake and eat it too

Delete Every App On Your Smartphone That’s On This List - Forbes

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

There you go.^†

Traders Scour for ‘Elusive’ Catalyst to Push S&P 500 to Record - Bloomberg

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

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

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

What are some alternatives to wearing a bra? Why do some women feel pressure to wear bras even though there may not be any benefits?

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

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:

Alzheimers' risk can be cut by ditching habit as 'positive' research developments made - Daily Express US

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

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 biggest mistake or regret?

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

(Mumbles of assent)

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

Further delays of Starliner’s next flight mark anniversary of its first crewed Space Station docking - Spaceflight Now

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

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

When he's standing, in front of you

Are miracles real or do they just have natural explanations?

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

[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.

[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."

RFK Jr. purges every vaccine adviser on CDC panel; will pick replacements - The Washington Post

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.

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

Whatever.

Ask Ethan: What are the "first stars" in the Universe? - Big Think