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Led to his suicide? I think that is assuming too much. I've read plenty of material suggesting his suicide was an accident, considering his new experiments wi

by Svip 14y ago

Led to his suicide? I think that is assuming too much. I've read plenty of material suggesting his suicide was an accident, considering his new experiments with drugs, while generally appearing content to the people around him. Now, obviously, he could have been masked this whole thing by playing a game, and the experiments was purely a cover for killing himself. But that doesn't make sense to me; why didn't he leave a note? Why would Alan Turing kill himself without letting the whole world know what happened? The lack of clearcut evidence (and what seems like a strange way to kill one self; there are plenty of easier choices) leaves me to believe that his death was accidental and not a suicide.

Jtsummers 14y ago
Re contentedness: I said this last time this topic came up. It is not uncommon for suicidal people to seem happy or at peace once they've committed themselves to the act. The stress that causes the desire has been in some sense resolved, they know it will be over soon. Re note: Not everyone leaves a note. None of the people I've known who killed (or attempted) themselves left notes, though most of us could guess at why. What would he have said in a note? A quick google search suggests that only about a quarter of suicides leave a note. EDIT: Re method: People kill themselves with all sorts of methods. A poisoned apple could've struck him as ironic, poetic, or perhaps easier to use than pills or a gun. Overall though, suicide is a messy business. Method, motive, behaviour of people who commit or attempt it is all over the map. Sometimes you can (in retrospect) say that it was obvious, many times you can't. Some people are good at acting happy or at least not sad. Others pass it off as just being tired. Some will plan out their methods in detail (like a poisoned apple may have been), others will see a bottle or a gun and use it that instant before they can reconsider. However, since some evidence wasn't examined at the time it's impossible to rule out an accident. On the other hand, nothing in the narrative easily dismisses the notion of suicide. This was 60 years ago, any attempt at this point to rewrite it is based on speculation from second hand accounts and has no ability to examine physical evidence to prove the theory.
darkarmani 14y ago
> Led to his suicide? I think that is assuming too much. You mean cutting him off from all of his research and shaming him to all of his peers is assuming too much??

by Svip 14y ago

Jtsummers 14y ago

Re contentedness: I said this last time this topic came up. It is not uncommon for suicidal people to seem happy or at peace once they've committed themselves to the act. The stress that causes the desire has been in some sense resolved, they know it will be over soon. Re note: Not everyone leaves a note. None of the people I've known who killed (or attempted) themselves left notes, though most of us could guess at why. What would he have said in a note? A quick google search suggests that only about a quarter of suicides leave a note. EDIT: Re method: People kill themselves with all sorts of methods. A poisoned apple could've struck him as ironic, poetic, or perhaps easier to use than pills or a gun. Overall though, suicide is a messy business. Method, motive, behaviour of people who commit or attempt it is all over the map. Sometimes you can (in retrospect) say that it was obvious, many times you can't. Some people are good at acting happy or at least not sad. Others pass it off as just being tired. Some will plan out their methods in detail (like a poisoned apple may have been), others will see a bottle or a gun and use it that instant before they can reconsider. However, since some evidence wasn't examined at the time it's impossible to rule out an accident. On the other hand, nothing in the narrative easily dismisses the notion of suicide. This was 60 years ago, any attempt at this point to rewrite it is based on speculation from second hand accounts and has no ability to examine physical evidence to prove the theory.

darkarmani 14y ago

> Led to his suicide? I think that is assuming too much. You mean cutting him off from all of his research and shaming him to all of his peers is assuming too much??