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?

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

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

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:

How can a man clean his Soul?

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

Whatever.

I am 26 now. I have wasted my 4 years of my life on government job preparation. I had put all my effort to get a job, but did not succeed. What should I do now?

(Mumbles of assent)

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.

When he's standing, in front of you

What unique academic programs does IILM University offer?

There you go.^†

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

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

Saturday Citations: Reality vs. imagination; rhinos vs. poachers; mathematics vs. the Big Bang - Phys.org

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

You can have your cake and eat it too

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

The “Extremely Unlikely” Finding That Changes How We See Mass Extinction - SciTechDaily

[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.

[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."

Barbra Streisand Is Still ‘P***ed Off’ Over ‘Fockers’ Salary: ‘They’d Have to Pay Me a Lot of Money’ to Do ‘Meet the Parents 4’ - IndieWire

"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?"

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

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

Pokémon GO Hyper Training Guide: Max IVs with Gold Bottle Caps from the Ancients Recovered Event - Pokémon GO Hub

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

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

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Canadians went out of their way to help Americans stranded in Canada after 9.11.2001. Why did Canadians help so much the way they did? We read that Canadians don't particularly like Americans to begin with.

Whatever.

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

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

Megyn Kelly: Meghan Markle's Pregnancy Post Disrespects Childbirth - TheWrap