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?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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

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.

Have you ever secretly watched someone while they were doing something private?

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

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

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:

How do I rat my boss out for serial cheating on his wife?

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

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

When he's standing, in front of you

How many girls or guys keep extra pantyhose in their glove box or console of their vehicle?

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

You can have your cake and eat it too

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

American netizens are flocking to another Chinese App Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book). Will Xiaohongshu become the next Chinese social app banned in the US?

"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?"

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

There you go.^†

'We'll Fly Through Anything': Qatar Airways Defies Mass Airline Exodus After U.S. Bombs Iranian Nuclear Sites - View from the Wing

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

(Mumbles of assent)

Whatever.

Weird-shaped notebooks make me want to write again - The Verge

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Whatever.

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

Nicolas Jackson helps Senegal to 3-1 victory over England - We Ain't Got No History

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

[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."

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

Watch 'superorganism' created by tiny worms — the first time it's ever been spotted in the wild - Live Science

[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.

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

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

How can I get rid of the fake girls on social media that are claiming to be hookups? Is there a way to shuffle through them and the real women that actually want to talk?