6 ms·
10,000 People Sign Petition to Honor Alan Turing by Putting Him on the £10 Note
- vladd 15y agoThere are priceless things, but for the rest, money represent the ability of humanity to communicate and exchange economic value so I often think about them as a symbol of what we've managed to achieve since the ancient times. And just like we evolved to exchange promissory value on a piece of paper, humanity made huge progress in self-governance and mutual respect. From the dawn ages of absolute kingdoms we've evolved to constitutional monarchies and democratic republics. We've abolished slavery, enabled universal voting in most parts of the world and probably in some decades almost everyone will have the right to marry the person they love. Alan Turing was among the most brilliant persons of his time, yet in his society he ended up injected with estrogen, which left him impotent (he also developed breasts and one year after this therapy he used cyanide to kill himself - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing ). If you're in UK, please sign this petition. It would be a huge honor to have on the very symbol of economic exchange Alan's face - a memory of our wrong-doings and of the progress that we made until now and the one that is yet to come.
- RossM 15y agoThe petition, for any UK readers who might wish to sign it. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/31659 http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/31659
- DanBC 15y agoA cultural note: Most online petitions are worthless useless spammy nonsense. UK epetitions are different, because with enough signatures (currently 100,000) the topic becomes eligible for debate in parliament.
- rplnt 15y agoI wouldn't say that most online petitions are worthless. Rather people's signatures are useless if the petition is targeted for UK (as in this case) and people from USA sign it.
- twelvechairs 15y agoAll you really get with a UK e-petition after 100,000 votes is it being sent to some low-end bureaucrat who may (or may not) forward it to the 'Backbench Business Committee'.
- ashconnor 15y agoThere have only been a couple of issues that have been taken seriously in parliament through e-petitions. First was the details of the Hillsborough disaster and second was taking away state benefits from those convicted during the London riots.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- andrewfelix 15y agoNot sure I value the positioning of ones face on currency as many do. But I do love the man and while I'm here I'll leave this peculiar bit of foresight from him which reminds me of Siri: "One day ladies will take their computers for walks in the park and tell each other, "My little computer said such a funny thing this morning."
- tomelders 15y agoBritain can never do enough to make right the wrongs it inflicted on Alan Turing, but it should never stop trying.
- mjburgess 15y agoI've always been quite proud of having Darwin there, perhaps a commemorative note?
- scriptproof 15y agoDarwin is not really related to computer science, but without Georges Booles, computers do not have existed ever.
- freehunter 15y agoWhy does the profession of the individual dictate if they can be on a note? Specifically, how would Darwin's lack of computer skills matter in this debate at all? I'm confused.
- scriptproof 15y agoMy comment was not about having someone on a note but having a programmer/computer scientist on a note. Darwin is not related to Turing while Booles is. Ideally we should have Booles on the front of the note and Turing on the back.
- freehunter 15y agoAh, that was not immediately obvious to me that both Darwin and Turing would be on the note. I could see them both being there as progressive scientists. Here in the US, we only have one person (usually a former president) on our notes, and a reminder of our religion on the back. So, leg up with Darwin already.
- antihero 15y agoI just think Turing is a great choice to troll the religious conservatives - replacing a creationist with a homosexual.
- alexchamberlain 15y ago
- rmc 15y agoIt is progressive to have a gay computer scientist and mathematician on a note. A lot of current British national identity and history is built around WW2, so "fought the Nazis" will also help the chances.
- locusm 15y agoI wish Tommy Flowers contribution got more recognition too - maybe they could put him on a fiver?
- geekam 15y agoLet's start similar petition for Donald Knuth in the US.
- agumonkey 15y agoand introduce a 3.14$ cut ?
- gmaslov 15y agoMaybe, maybe... But then we'd have to arrange things so that the rate of inflation decreases every year in such a way that the value of the note converges to pi dollars.
- dfc 15y agoI realize you were trying to be cute but comparing the two individuals in this context is tacky and makes light of the terrible manner in which Turing was treated. Until our society advances more I think it is best to avoid using homophobia as the basis of a witty remark...
- aplusbi 15y agoThe context of this is "put a famous mathematician on the £10" so it hardly makes light of anything.
- dfc 15y agoSo the impetus behind this is purely to recognize Turing's contribution to math?
- aplusbi 15y agoObviously not, it's near impossible to get into a discussion about Alan Turing without bringing up the way he was treated. However British money already features scientists (Turing, if selected, will replace Darwin) and this has far more to do with recognizing Turing's accomplishments than his treatment. There are many people who think that it's a good idea to feature scientists on money and making that suggestion for US money isn't in anyway taking Turing's treatment lightly.
- robertskmiles 15y agoI like having Darwin on the £10, but I'd like to have Turing on a note as well. Maybe the £5 would be better, though that would mean getting rid of Elizabeth Fry, who I believe is the only woman currently on the currency (except Her Majesty of course), which may upset some people. The other options are the 20 and 50, which have Adam Smith and Boulton and Watt, respectively.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]