I enjoy Turing's contributions as much as the next man, but this really isn't an apt comparison. Socrates talked his way into his own grave when he could have e

I enjoy Turing's contributions as much as the next man, but this really isn't an apt comparison. Socrates talked his way into his own grave when he could have easily gotten out of it. Galileo is probably closer, but the church beefed with his work, not the man per se. Meanwhile, Turing worked for the establishment directly and was very definitely embraced as a researcher. His persecution is completely unrelated to his genius; he seems to serve more as a figurehead for examples of homophobic bigotry because of his success and successive fame and recognition, not because his case was unusual. That said, I'm happy with the situation; I don't see anything wrong with using him for that purpose. I just don't see much of a parallel because his anti-establishment status wasn't tied to his genius, and is in fact completely separate.