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).

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Whatever.

Do you think your landlord should have a key to your room?

[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?"

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

Why would Joseph Smith say that polygamy was God's law?

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

(Mumbles of assent)

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Has anyone ever really waited that long and gotten a paper check mailed 20 days ago?

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:

When he's standing, in front of you

ABC News anchor David Muir reveals how he feels about his 'Daddy' status - Entertainment Weekly

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

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.

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

Marijuana Legalization Is Putting 'Pressure' On Alcohol Industry, CEO Of Jack Daniel's Parent Company Says Amid Profit Losses - Marijuana Moment

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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?"

Have you ever been physically attacked by a demon?

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

[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."

Whatever.

Delta Force selection is originally based on SAS selection, so why is there no brutal jungle phase for Delta Force? It seems like it's based only on the Brecon Beacons section.

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

You can have your cake and eat it too

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

What caused the stock market to crash?

[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?"

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

What was your experience when trying GHB?