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The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

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Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#11

Post by jgrahamc »

jacorreia wrote: post #9

I'm sure may of you are aware of Alan Turing and Oscar Wilde's prosecution for gross indecency (and if you're not you most definitely should!), but you should all also learn about the similar prosecution against Roger Casement. He was the father of human-rights investigations and made a huge impact with his investigations of human-rights abuses in Peru and the Congo. Mario Vargas Llosa (Nobel prize-winner for Literat…

They are rather different cases.

Casement was tried and convicted of treason for trying, during World War I, to get Germany to support an uprising in Ireland against Great Britain. It's true that his alleged homosexuality didn't help his case.

Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#12

Post by barking »

jacorreia wrote: post #9

I'm sure may of you are aware of Alan Turing and Oscar Wilde's prosecution for gross indecency (and if you're not you most definitely should!), but you should all also learn about the similar prosecution against Roger Casement. He was the father of human-rights investigations and made a huge impact with his investigations of human-rights abuses in Peru and the Congo. Mario Vargas Llosa (Nobel prize-winner for Literat…

Casement's so-called 'Black diaries' were used during his prosecution for treason in an attempt to discredit him as much as possible.

These were condemned at the time by irish nationalists as forgeries.

I believe that they are now generally regarded as genuine.

They included references to homosexual acts which was sufficient to incur public condemnation back then.

Consequently the fact that many of Casement's and also Wilde's sexual acts involved juveniles has never been given much consideration.

Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#13

Post by packetized »

I knew virtually nothing about Turing until reading Neal Stephenson's 'Cryptonomicon' around 15 years ago. I wonder how many people actually learned about him (and some aspects of his life, despite the novel being alternate/historical fiction) for the first time in this way.

Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#14

Post by eksith »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #10

I always liked the speculation that the original Apple logo (the rainbow one) was a reference to Turing. He (allegedly) killed himself by taking a single bite out of a cyanide-laced apple, and the rainbow stripes are a reference to his homosexuality. As far as I can tell, the idea is almost entirely without merit - but it's a nice idea.

The real story of the design is pretty interesting though http://creativebits.org/interview/interview_rob_janoff_desig...

Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#15

Post by jacorreia »

jgrahamc wrote: post #11
jacorreia wrote: post #9

I'm sure may of you are aware of Alan Turing and Oscar Wilde's prosecution for gross indecency (and if you're not you most definitely should!), but you should all also learn about the similar prosecution against Roger Casement. He was the father of human-rights investigations and made a huge impact with his investigations of human-rights abuses in Peru and the Congo. Mario Vargas Llosa (Nobel prize-winner for Literat…

They are rather different cases. Casement was tried and convicted of treason for trying, during World War I, to get Germany to support an uprising in Ireland against Great Britain. It's true that his alleged homosexuality didn't help his case.

Oh of course, there's little doubt he committed treason, but the fact that his homosexuality was used to ensure that a fair trial was impossible is what I was trying to get at.

Are there any other similar cases to Turing/Wilde/Casement that I don't know about?

Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#16

Post by barking »

jacorreia wrote: post #15
jgrahamc wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are rather different cases. Casement was tried and convicted of treason for trying, during World War I, to get Germany to support an uprising in Ireland against Great Britain. It's true that his alleged homosexuality didn't help his case.

Oh of course, there's little doubt he committed treason, but the fact that his homosexuality was used to ensure that a fair trial was impossible is what I was trying to get at. Are there any other similar cases to Turing/Wilde/Casement that I don't know about?

The treason part of it was pretty cut and tried. The blackening of his character was necessary for political reasons, not to ensure a guilty verdict.

Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#17

Post by justincormack »

packetized wrote: post #13

I knew virtually nothing about Turing until reading Neal Stephenson's 'Cryptonomicon' around 15 years ago. I wonder how many people actually learned about him (and some aspects of his life, despite the novel being alternate/historical fiction) for the first time in this way.

No, Hodges biography for me. But now perhaps all the younger people will be introduced via the new film.

Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#18

Post by rmc »

(Disclaimer: I'm an openly gay man working in technology).

A part of me dislikes how Alan Turing was given a pardon and apology. It's like they said it was wrong to persecute a gay man for being gay, but only if you help invent the computer and help defeat the Nazis.

What about all the other gay men persecuted under the same law? Why do they not get a pardon/apology? Do we have to help stop evil genocidal dictators before we get the same respect?

Re: The Man Who Made the UK Say “I’m Sorry for What We Did to Turing.”

#19

Post by StandardFuture »

What's really nice to consider is the fact that Graham-Cumming is an avid Hacker News user. :P [0] Can't even imagine how awesome it would have been if Turing was able to be so as well(although he would have died long before Hacker News ever existed).

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jgrahamc

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