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?

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:

You can have your cake and eat it too

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

What's the most valuable lesson you've learned in life, and how has it impacted your journey so far?

When he's standing, in front of you

There you go.^†

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

What pleasure do guys get by sucking female breasts?

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

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

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 would a man be interested in an ordinary woman while there are very beautiful and fabulous women?

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

Whatever.

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

Have you ever been forced into bestiality?

"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?"

^† 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.

Why does it itch on my vulva, uterus, and sides of my vagina, but it doesn't itch inside the vagina?

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

[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?"

How do you find out who your handler is as a targeted individual?

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

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

[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."

Do people really never face any hidden costs or surprises with surgeries in countries with single-payer healthcare like the NHS?

(Mumbles of assent)

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

How do teachers justify punishing a student for fighting back against their bullies?

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

Whatever.

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

What happens when your partner doesn't see the value in you and continuously hurts you by searching for something in others knowing it hurts you?