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The state forced him to undergo chemical castration. Same state kept his achievements and contribution to the war effort a secret up until after his death. Cr
by 908B64B197 4y ago
The state forced him to undergo chemical castration.
Same state kept his achievements and contribution to the war effort a secret up until after his death.
Crazy to think he was convicted in 1952. Same year Elizabeth became Queen and head of state. She could have simply overturned his conviction. The man saved women, men, children, of all races and orientations from an horrible end. Had he not cracked the enigma's cryptography, there would most likely remain nothing today of the crown that persecuted him. Blown to dust by the Luftwaffe.
If only the British government had extended the same humanity to Turing himself.
- simple-thoughts 4y agoIt’s not crazy, it’s exactly what would be expected from any State throughout history. The people who are crazy are the ones who expect something different. As far back as Plato’s Republic, both theory and practice of State require sacrificing the individual for the greater good - where the greater good is defined by those in power. Of course I fully support the State and you should to or else.
- nlitened 4y agoIf I understand correctly, the “chemical castration” that Turing was subject to, is the same substance that nowadays US kids with gender disphoria are prescribed.
- vore 4y agoThere’s a difference between using it as treatment vs punishment though. That’s like saying they use the same substance for lethal injections (pentobarbital) for treating anxiety.
- the_mitsuhiko 4y agoThe US prescribes Diethylstilbestrol against gender dysphoria? I would like a source for that.
- sirsinsalot 4y agoYou mean the effects of drugs have different uses in different contexts?! What?! That's amazing!
- yosame 4y agoNext you'll be telling me warfarin can be used for something other than killing rats!
- defrost 4y agoWhat the UK legal system did to Turing was barbaric. Let's agree on that. > Had he not cracked the enigma's cryptography .. Err - that was some Polish cryptographers, they also designed and built the first bombes (mechanical decrypters). Enigma wasn't the only or most significant crypto system used by the Germans during WWII either - William Tutte cracked the Lorenz cipher and Bletchley was packed to the gills with talented mathematicians and engineers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptanalysis_of_the_Enigma#Polish_breakthroughs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptanalysis_of_the_Enigma#Po... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptanalysis_of_the_Lorenz_cipher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptanalysis_of_the_Lorenz_ci...
- timeon 4y agoWikipedia article "Cryptanalysis of the Enigma" from your first link mentions also Turing's involvement.
- defrost 4y agoAbsolutely, he came in late stage and built upon the work done by the Polish mathematicians who reverse engineered and "cracked" the enigma encoding in addition to building the first generation bombes that mechanically automated decryption stages. I'm a fan of Turing's work, his crypto contributions, his work on the halting problem, his mercury delay line memory tubes, etc. I'm not a fan of stealing credit from the Poles that deserve it.
- darreninthenet 4y agoThe monarchy hasn't directly interfered in government or law like that for a very very long time... it would have established a difficult precedent for Elizabeth II if she'd on day one suddenly did so
- HyperSane 4y agoI consider this to be direct interference https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vette...
- darreninthenet 4y agoIndeed if it's true and accurate, that would be.
- vixen99 4y agoHorrible indeed but it wasn't just Britain that failed in extending humanity. According to Wikipedia, in America, 'Prior to 1962, sodomy was a felony in every state, punished by a lengthy term of imprisonment and/or hard labor'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy_laws_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy_laws_in_the_United_Stat...