First step to knighthood?
Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
11–20 of 163 posts
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#12Ridiculous
Would you like to expand upon that?
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#13This falls under the category of too little too late. I get that traditions change throughout history, I get that some things that are acceptable now were unacceptable even 10 years ago, but this is a case where people should have looked the other way. Alan Turning is both a war hero and one of the greatest minds to ever live. To simply disregard someone like that because of their sexual orientation is both short sighted and a disgusting lack of humanity. Imagine how much further computing would be if he had lived longer? If he had been free to think and live without ridicule and the tests run on him?
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#14How ironic, coming the same week as LGBT education sites are blocked by British "porn" filters. The best pardon to someone who is dead would be to stop doing similar misdeeds to those who are living.
The "porn" filters are stupid and creeping totalitarianism, but it's irresponsible and disrespectful to compare them to what was done to Turing.
He was persecuted and prosecuted; publically humiliated; forced to receive hormonal injections that rendered him impotent; banned from traveling to the USA; essentially banned from any jobs involving cryptography or national security; and ultimately committed suicide in large part because of government sanctions.
World of difference between that and a porous filter.
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#15Wouldn't it be much more forceful if his conviction remained as a mahnmal? Something to point at and say "here's what we did to a brilliant man because we were too small-minded to think otherwise"?
All pardoning Turing does now is lead us to eventually forget the tragedy of his conviction.
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#16Pardon? For what? Thanks but no thanks.
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#17This falls under the category of too little too late. I get that traditions change throughout history, I get that some things that are acceptable now were unacceptable even 10 years ago, but this is a case where people should have looked the other way. Alan Turning is both a war hero and one of the greatest minds to ever live. To simply disregard someone like that because of their sexual orientation is both short sig…
Exactly false. People could have looked the other way, and Turing could have lived a longer, happier life, and we could all be that much less aware of the injustice done to hundreds of thousands of other LGBT people throughout the last century. The tragedy is the policy that cost Turing his life, not the fact that an exception wasn't made for him. It cost many more people than Turing.
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#1875,000 men were convicted under the same law, of whom 26,000 are still alive. [1] Only Turing has been "pardoned".
My understanding [2] is that the "pardon" implies there was nothing wrong with the law as such, just that Turing is forgiven for having broken it. So while I guess this is better than nothing, I don't know if it's really the way to go about it.
[1] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/t...
[2] I am not a lawyer, nor British, so give my understanding as much weight as it deserves...
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#19The British state already formally apologized five years ago, under Gordon Brown, for Alan Turing's barbaric treatment. I can't see how a pardon adds anything to that. The best response is just to treat people humanely in the present.
Re: Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing
#20How ironic, coming the same week as LGBT education sites are blocked by British "porn" filters. The best pardon to someone who is dead would be to stop doing similar misdeeds to those who are living.
The "porn" filters are stupid and creeping totalitarianism, but it's irresponsible and disrespectful to compare them to what was done to Turing. He was persecuted and prosecuted; publically humiliated; forced to receive hormonal injections that rendered him impotent; banned from traveling to the USA; essentially banned from any jobs involving cryptography or national security; and ultimately committed suicide in larg…
He was persecuted for his sexual orientation, and furthermore this was done despite his obvious contribution to the safety of the nation. This placed sexual mores as more important than national interest.
A default information filter is currently being introduced by several ISPs in the UK, it starts by filtering sexual content.
This is similar in concept to the attitudes that cause immense suffering to Turing, i.e. controlling the public expression and liberty of the sexual life is being considered as more important that protecting civil liberties such as freedom of information.