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?

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

Whatever.

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

A New Law of Nature Attempts to Explain the Complexity of the Universe - WIRED

[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.

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

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

Milwaukee-area family suing Children's Wisconsin after daughter's brain donation was lost - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

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.

The Sun Is Causing Starlink Satellites To Drop From Space - Daily Kos

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

When he's standing, in front of you

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

World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline' - UN - BBC

"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?"

[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.

Eius sequi culpa animi quod delectus deleniti deserunt.

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:

There you go.^†

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

‘We Were Right’: Leaked Medical Report Says Boxer Who Beat Up Women At Olympics Is A Man - The Daily Wire

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

(Mumbles of assent)

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

What’s the craziest thing you’ve heard pretending to be asleep?

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

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

You can have your cake and eat it too

Sega Throws Shade At Mario Kart While Showing Off Sonic Racing: Crossworlds - Kotaku

Whatever.

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

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

Ducks GM Pat Verbeek Discusses the Trade and What's Ahead for Anaheim - NHL.com