Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by derleth 5100 days ago
> Turing's castigation was a preventable result of his homosexuality he should have predicted and avoided. "Just stay in the closet and shut your mouth."

Given the results of coming out, what should Turing have done?

1 comments

Turing did exactly what he should have done in a fair and just society. He told the police the truth of the situation. It was the governments actions, not his, that should be condemned.
OK, that doesn't seem like the most pragmatic answer from an individual perspective, though.

To be clear: Morally, I agree with you fully. Pragmatically, fighting the war only works if you go into it knowing you're going to fight and prepared for the fight. Gandhi was more-or-less nutty in many ways, but he was prepared for the fight. Turing apparently just wanted to continue to live his life, the way most people in the world do.

So, pragmatically, being right is usually secondary to being able to continue living a reasonable life. Unless you think devoting your life to a war is reasonable, as Gandhi did.