6 ms·

Lots of people seemed to appreciate Alan Turing (and lots of other people) being pardoned for something that should never have been a crime in the first place.

Lots of people seemed to appreciate Alan Turing (and lots of other people) being pardoned for something that should never have been a crime in the first place. Basically, it's a very concrete sign of how we want our society to be now.

eznzt 6y ago
i.e. rewriting history.
- zabzonk 6y ago
  history is the multiple re-writings of our understanding actual events, in as much as we can understand them
- ChrisClark 6y ago
  Nope. It's just a symbol of hope, that humanity can improve.
  - eznzt 6y ago
    Humanity improves by improving forward, not by changing the meaning of historical events.
    - Apocryphon 6y ago
      These are amending past wrongs, not censoring them.
- tzs 6y ago
  How is saying that some past act was wrong "rewriting history"? Rewriting history would be saying that the past act never happened.
- vinay427 6y ago
  To use a more modern example, this seems akin to saying that, when someone is falsely convicted of a crime and is imprisoned as a result, appealing their judgment with fresh eyes and consequently acquitting them is "rewriting history." Yes, this example involves a living person, but that doesn't seem specifically relevant to your concern of "rewriting history." The entire act of pardoning someone is reversing a small fraction of the results of a prior action, not pretending that the prior action never happened.
DanBC 6y ago
Also, pardoning Turing makes it easier to get pardons for people who had similar convictions but who are still alive. Pardon for Turing - 2013: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25495315 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25495315 Turing's law, pardon for thousands of gay men - 2016: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37711518 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37711518
hansjorg 6y ago
Couldn't it also be interpreted as a whitewashing of the people and institutions that were guilty of condemning him? Maybe I'm misunderstanding a 'pardon', but it sounds like the state is saying, 'what you did was wrong, but we forgive you' when what it should be saying is 'we were wrong to condemn you'. The whole ordeal has an air of 'might is always right'.
- zabzonk 6y ago
  I agree in general with you about pardons, but there was also an apology for Turing's treatment from the then prime minister, Gordon Brown.

eznzt 6y ago

i.e. rewriting history.

zabzonk 6y ago
history is the multiple re-writings of our understanding actual events, in as much as we can understand them
ChrisClark 6y ago
Nope. It's just a symbol of hope, that humanity can improve.
- eznzt 6y ago
  Humanity improves by improving forward, not by changing the meaning of historical events.
  - Apocryphon 6y ago
    These are amending past wrongs, not censoring them.
tzs 6y ago
How is saying that some past act was wrong "rewriting history"? Rewriting history would be saying that the past act never happened.
vinay427 6y ago
To use a more modern example, this seems akin to saying that, when someone is falsely convicted of a crime and is imprisoned as a result, appealing their judgment with fresh eyes and consequently acquitting them is "rewriting history." Yes, this example involves a living person, but that doesn't seem specifically relevant to your concern of "rewriting history." The entire act of pardoning someone is reversing a small fraction of the results of a prior action, not pretending that the prior action never happened.

DanBC 6y ago

Also, pardoning Turing makes it easier to get pardons for people who had similar convictions but who are still alive. Pardon for Turing - 2013: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25495315 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25495315 Turing's law, pardon for thousands of gay men - 2016: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37711518 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37711518

hansjorg 6y ago

Couldn't it also be interpreted as a whitewashing of the people and institutions that were guilty of condemning him? Maybe I'm misunderstanding a 'pardon', but it sounds like the state is saying, 'what you did was wrong, but we forgive you' when what it should be saying is 'we were wrong to condemn you'. The whole ordeal has an air of 'might is always right'.

zabzonk 6y ago
I agree in general with you about pardons, but there was also an apology for Turing's treatment from the then prime minister, Gordon Brown.