阿兰·图灵

刚刚看到维基百科上出现了这条新闻：“2013年12月24日，英国司法部长宣布英国女王伊丽莎白二世赦免上世纪50年代因同性恋行为被定罪的英国著名数学家、密码学家、计算机科学之父阿兰·图灵。”

啊，这可真是太傲慢了。眼前的问题，不是英国该不该赦免图灵，而是图灵该不该赦免英国。

Alan Turing, code-breaker castrated for homosexuality,
receives royal pardon

By Jethro Mullen, CNN
December 24, 2013 — Updated 2301 GMT (0701 HKT)

(CNN) — Alan Turing, a British code-breaker during World War II who was later subjected to chemical castration for homosexual activity, has received a royal pardon nearly 60 years after he committed suicide.

Turing was best known for developing the Bombe, a code-breaking machine that deciphered messages encoded by German machines. His work is considered by many to have saved thousands of lives and helped change the course of the war.

“Dr. Turing deserves to be remembered and recognized for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science,” British Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement Tuesday. “A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man.”

Turing’s castration in 1952 — after he was convicted of homosexual activity, which was illegal at the time — is “a sentence we would now consider unjust and discriminatory and which has now been repealed,” Grayling said.

Two years after the castration, which Turing chose to avoid a custodial sentence, he ended his life at the age of 41 by eating an apple laced with cyanide.

Supporters have long campaigned for Turing to receive greater recognition for his work and official acknowledgment that his punishment was wrong.

An online petition in 2009 that drew tens of thousands of signatures succeeded in getting an apology from then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown for Turing’s treatment by the justice system in the 1950s. Brown described the Turing sentence as “appalling.”

The German messages that Turing cracked at the British government’s code-breaking headquarters in Bletchley Park provided the Allies with crucial information. The German messages were encoded by Enigma machines, which Adolf Hitler’s military believed made its communications impenetrable.

Turing was considered a mathematical genius.

In 1937 he published a paper introducing an idea that came to be known as the Turing machine, which is considered to have formed the basis of modern computing. This was a hypothetical device that could come up with a solution to any problem that is computable.

“Alan Turing was a remarkable man who played a key role in saving this country in World War II by cracking the German enigma code,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said. “His action saved countless lives. He also left a remarkable national legacy through his substantial scientific achievements, often being referred to as the ‘father of modern computing.'”

The prestigious A.M. Turing Award — sometimes called the “Nobel Prize” of Computing — was named after Turing.

The pardon, under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy, comes into effect Tuesday, the British Ministry of Justice said.

早先的传奇，是华为一年跳一个。如今的传奇，是富士康半年跳十一个。

世界最具欺骗性的，在于它无声无息地、每时每刻地慢慢地改变。人看到自己的手，觉得这是昨天看到的那一只——倘若当真如此，就不需要护手霜了。生命在身边刻刻化现又逝去，每个人每时都在以一个新的自己换掉自己的上一个刹那。但这些都太不易察觉了。

世界在有些人的眼睛里，显得运行得快了一些，就容易使人崩溃。

在有些人的眼睛里，世界运行得太慢，也容易让人厌倦。

早晨对着面前的计算机想：主频2GHz，我把这个词在头脑里默念一下，它里面的时钟脉冲已跳动了二十亿个来回。我上一天班，对它而言，就是无间地狱啊。

有些人的生活，不幸落在了一天重复上千个动作上，这就是世界运行得太慢。当世界忽然在别的角度为他展现加速的一面时，会怎么样呢。小时候趴在草地上，等着野花像电视上的镜头一样，顷刻绽放。倘若现在我桌子上的花这么来一下，我立刻会为它念经超度的。

有时我玩大富翁，一出场就踩了衰神，七天不能买地，衰神刚退去，又猎捕保护动物坐牢九天。当时脑子里忽闪忽闪地想的，就是出狱后，一拿回鼠标，我就要重新开局。假如玩到中间再出这些倒霉事，反而没想法了。很多年纪轻轻就凋零了的人，是不是也怀着欣然的心情，以为自己在洗牌。

本来是自己观察无常的时候，却为别人演示了无常。

小时候和一家人挤在二十平米的小屋子里时，从来没有梦想过自己在二十年后能够游历世界。现在在做的事情，三、五年前完全不能想到。五年前在做的事情，十年前完全不能想到。是什么样的生活，能够让人不能等到二十五岁再说？

……

不希望每天看新闻，习惯性地看看富士康是不是又有人跳楼了，更不希望“今天富士康没有人跳楼”成为新闻。

反省自己对富士康逝去的生命的麻木。这种麻木应非出自对无常的领会，而只是失去慈悲的表现。