How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage...

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

"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?"

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

What is something you saw while on an airplane that you couldn't believe?

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

[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."

Whatever.

Police take back statement dismissing hate crime in gay actor’s killing - The Washington Post

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

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

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

Fixing the Phoenix Suns: Retooling the roster in 6 steps - Bright Side Of The Sun

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

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

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:

Do straight guys like to see cocks?

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

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

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

What were Hitler’s habits?

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

[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.

Where do high school kids get weed from?

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

There you go.^†

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

When sharing a wife, is it best with your buddy or a stranger?

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.

When he's standing, in front of you

(Mumbles of assent)

What have I done wrong? How can I start over?

You can have your cake and eat it too

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