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?

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

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

What would happen if the Soviet Union had simply annexed Manchuria after World War 2 or kept it independent as a puppet state allied them and separate from China as China was too weak too oppose it anyway?

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

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.

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

Why do flat earthers delete their answers after being proven wrong? Are they just being ignorant and arrogant?

"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?

(Mumbles of assent)

How do military families handle communication when a service member is injured overseas?

Whatever.

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

"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?"

What transforms the philosophical intellect?

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

When he's standing, in front of you

[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.

The U.S. hasn’t seen a new confirmed human bird flu case in nearly 4 months — why? - Yahoo

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

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

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

Scottie Scheffler’s wife reveals infant son’s bathroom mishap during Memorial win - New York Post

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

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.^†

What Your Sweat Could Reveal About Your Health - CNN

You can have your cake and eat it too

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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

How can I get over a break up?

Whatever.

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

[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."

Tender Moment Nurse Mare Adopts Orphaned Foal As Her Own Has Us in Tears - Yahoo