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?

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

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

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Why do a bra and panties have to match?

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

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

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

39-year-old quit nursing to become a mechanic—her business brings in $440,000 a year: ‘It was the fastest way to make money' - MSN

When he's standing, in front of you

[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."

[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.

I have been married for 34 years, and I found out my wife lied, and cheated a lot back before we got married. Does she not change, or is it possible she is still a cheater?

You can have your cake and eat it too

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

Department of Homeland Security lists Buncombe County as 'sanctuary jurisdiction' - WLOS

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

There you go.^†

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

When you visit a store, do you go to shop or buy?

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.

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

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

Where did the false claim that Haitian immigrants are eating pets come from?

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

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:

"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?"

Tesla's Imminent Valuation Crash? (NASDAQ:TSLA) - Seeking Alpha

Whatever.

Whatever.

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

Iusto et ipsum nesciunt est qui.

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

(Mumbles of assent)

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

Inbox: This will be a tough roster to crack - Green Bay Packers