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?

[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."

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:

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

Do humans know everything they need to know?

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

There you go.^†

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

What is it that gives a man who is a submissive cock sucker his most pleasure?

[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.

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

What is the best phrase that sums up Tim Burton's Netflix Wednesday series cast? What is your unedited opinion about it?

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

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

When he's standing, in front of you

What are some things that children used to wait for, but are no longer common in today's society?

"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?"

Whatever.

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

Why cant a narcissist admit when they are wrong?

"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

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

Do you believe that social media companies should allow posts spreading misinformation about election results, as suggested by Rep. Jim Jordan?

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.

(Mumbles of assent)

Whatever.

Cal Raleigh’s heroics can’t save Mariners as Orioles complete sweep - The Seattle Times

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

^* 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.

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

"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."

First American Spacewalk 60 Years Ago Today - The Weather Channel