How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage...

[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."

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

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:

Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce spotted at wedding in Knoxville - WBIR

Whatever.

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

(Mumbles of assent)

Appendix Cancer Rates Climb Among Millennials and Gen X - Newser

[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.

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

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

NASA tested a new SLS booster that may never fly, and the end of it blew off - Ars Technica

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

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 one you love?

What toxic behavior has been normalized by society?

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

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

When he's standing, in front of you

How John Cena recreated CM Punk’s Pipe Bomb promo and changed his farewell tour - Cageside Seats

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

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

"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?"

Scientists Uncover a Lost World Hidden Beneath Antarctica’s Frozen Tapestry for Millions of Years - Indian Defence Review

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.

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Why am I dreaming of people I've never seen before?

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

There you go.^†

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

If you're quitting a job or anticipating layoffs, don't burn your bridges at work. Boomerang hires are increasing. - Business Insider

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

You can have your cake and eat it too

Whatever.