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?

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

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

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

Why can't white people just surrender their white privilege?

[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."

You can have your cake and eat it too

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

Has anyone ever participated in a gang bang and what was it like?

Whatever.

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

[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.

What's the most incredible coincidence that ever happened to you?

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

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

"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?"

How is it, in the USA, a country with 334 million people, the choice of President comes down to two aged men, one of whom is a liar as well as a criminal, one who appears to be on his way to dementia. Surely a democratic country can put up better?

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

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

(Mumbles of assent)

Why is the band Nickelback unliked so much?

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.

Whatever.

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

My cantankerous beagle is very badly behaved at the dog park and always starts barking at the other dogs. Would pepper spray be an effective method to correct his inappropriate behavior?

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

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

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

What questions will be asked by the executive director of JP Morgan for 6 years of experience in Java? The technical rounds are already cleared.

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

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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

Why is Elon Musk so ugly?

There you go.^†

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

Do married men know when their wives are having affairs?