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?

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 wait any longer for the world to begin?

There you go.^†

What is the best way to get over your ex?

(Mumbles of assent)

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

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

What is it like to be a Christian in Iran?

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

^† 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?"

When a black man and a white woman have a child, does the child become white? If a white man and a black woman have a child, does the child become black?

Whatever.

You can have your cake and eat it too

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

What seemingly minor decision or moment in your past ended up having a massive impact on your entire life trajectory?

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

When he's standing, in front of you

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Sometime ago, the Iranian Minister said that a US Navy aircraft carrier would be an easy target for 300 speed boats armed with Katyusha rocket launchers. Is this true?

[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."

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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

Who is Meghan Markle and why is she so controversial on the Internet?

[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.

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

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

Can you explain the meaning of "mint condition" in relation to antiques or collectibles?

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

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

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.

If Jesus spoke against abortion and prioritized family values, how quickly would he be dismissed as a patriarchal figure by modern progressives?

Whatever.

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:

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

How can one justify in Sweden that total subsidies for public green energy initiatives being approximately 8.2 billion SEK per year? Electric cars at market price typically cost an average of 500,000 SEK which is above household budgets.