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?

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

[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."

When he's standing, in front of you

She was a Disney star with platinum records, but Bridgit Mendler gave it up to change the world - Ars Technica

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

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

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

Can Donald Trump use the Alien Friends Act of 1798 to give ALL illegal immigrants an ultimatum: You have 1 month to leave America, after which you will be arrested and jailed for 3 years?

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

"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?"

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

Aaron Judge's 469-Foot Home Run in Kansas City Left Baseball World in Disbelief - Sports Illustrated

[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.

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

What are some tips for making your husband fall madly in love with you again after going through the worst phase of your marriage?

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

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

Why do the Republican city officials at Springfield Ohio continue to deny that immigrants are eating pets to sabotage the Trump campaign, even though immigrant pet-eating is now widely believed to be true?

You can have your cake and eat it too

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

How come I can't stay sober?

(Mumbles of assent)

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.

What has been your best sexual experience?

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:

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

I see ugly guys dating gorgeous, "hot" women all the time. I, too, am not very attractive but I'm not doing well with the ladies. What's their secret?

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

Whatever.

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

Can I fix a fridge leak myself, or should I call a pro?