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'?"

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

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

Boulder County resident exposed Flatiron Flyer passengers to measles - The Denver Post

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

Whatever.

When he's standing, in front of you

What is your best forbidden sex story that felt so right?

[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."

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

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

How do introverts celebrate their birthday?

"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 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:

Summer Game Fest Viewership Jumps 89% to Record 50 Million Livestreams - Variety

There you go.^†

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

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

Atheists, there is a god up there in heaven and he loves you so much that he sent his son to die the worst death imaginable and then to turn into a zombie all to save you from sin. Why do you reject him?

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

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

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

Why do trans people get so deeply offended when a stranger misgenders them, especially when it's a first encounter? I've been socially transitioned for 4 years and it just feels like a waste of energy to be so hurt by it.

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

[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.

Has Great Britain ever been considered a "hyper-power" like the United States or Russia are currently considered? If not, why?

(Mumbles of assent)

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.

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

Which Shakespeare words have completely changed meaning in modern English?

You can have your cake and eat it too

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

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

What would it take for you to consider yourself a "Swiftie" like Flavor Flav?