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.

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

[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."

Why am I so tired of the keto diet?

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

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.

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

Is something wrong with my discharge? So, when I masturbate, white discharge comes from my vagina, but it's not stretchy, it's pasty. It doesn't smell and I'm not itchy, so I'm sure it's not a yeast infection. Why is it pasty though?

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

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

(Mumbles of assent)

Google Confirms Most Gmail Users Must Upgrade All Their Accounts - Forbes

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

"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.^†

Valerie Bertinelli Shares the Trader Joe’s Snack She’s ‘Addicted’ to — and Walked Around a Store 3 Times to Find - AOL.com

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

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

[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.

Tony Awards 2025 Snubs and Surprises: Nicole Scherzinger, Audra McDonald and More - Variety

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

Whatever.

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

Tapping your finger to a specific rhythm boosts brainpower, an unknown human ability just discovered - Earth.com

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

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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

Do you agree with a toy company CEO that 'tariffs are almost like speeding towards a brick wall but the driver of the car doesn’t see it yet and by the time he does, it’ll be too late to hit the brakes.'?

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:

When he's standing, in front of you

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max: The Best View Yet Of New Design Just Leaked - Forbes

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

You can have your cake and eat it too

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Could Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ kill the OFR and accidentally sabotage SOFR? - Financial Times