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?

You can have your cake and eat it too

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

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

What specific economic and social impacts would result if all climate change policies and regulations were immediately repealed worldwide?

"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?"

When he's standing, in front of you

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:

Did you know God exists? 900+ answers later and no atheist has yet to be successful. Day 8 of asking Atheists to provide a SINGLE argument that demonstrates a cause for the beginning of the universe while avoiding the problem of infinite regression.

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

(Mumbles of assent)

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

Injectable medications for obesity found to produce smaller weight loss in a real-world setting - Medical Xpress

Whatever.

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

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.

What would have happened if Shin was a good movie instead of a bad one?

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

Whatever.

[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."

Staying in This Place Too Long Could Change How You Age, Scientists Say - The Daily Galaxy

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

[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.

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

Japanese Scientists Develop Artificial Blood Compatible With All Blood Types - Tokyo Weekender

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

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

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

Why does Africa have all mineral resources but she is suffering economically?

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

There you go.^†

Do people have to be a pastor to baptize?

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

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

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

Why does my 5-year-old daughter keep repeating the words 'they will come for us, they will find us and touch us'? I'm quite scared.