Alan Turing Should Have Chosen Celibacy

Con is committing the appeal to authority fallacy by saying that since western culture tends to focus on individualism that therefore individualism is right, or even that it is right in this case. Just because I am in the west and the west is primarily an individualistic culture does not mean that I personally agree with individualism. I am more of a collectivist, although there are some aspects of individualism that I like. For instance I believe that people should be encouraged to think critically and to express their opinions. However, I think that people should do this with the end goal of improving things for humanity as a whole before considering improving things for themselves. People should also think more of the long-term than the short-term regardless of whether they are thinking about humanity or about themselves. And in the long-term Alan Turing sacrificed his own individual good for the sake of short-term individual good. Con then commits the bare assertion fallacy. He states that having different expectations for Alan Turing because he is a genius is illogical. But being a genius means having more of a chance through one's endeavors of contributing to the good of the whole. That creates a very logical reason for a different expectation. In the case of someone who is not a genius it's arguable (though not definitive as they may have other responsibilities and commitments to weigh) that they may be doing more social good by getting caught as they could use the occasion to speak out in court for the cause of gay rights and advance the movement forward, leading to more freedom for others in the future. And notice I mentioned another case that would be different. Someone who is a genius but is a genius in the social sciences or political activism would arguably make an even greater impact by using a court case as a platform to advance gay rights. But Alan Turing was a mathematical and computer science genius, not a social science genius or a political activist, and even if he was the "good" in promoting gay rights would've still been at most a nudge, and would have been outweighed by the good he could do by avoiding legal trouble and continuing to be allowed to participate in promoting progress in mathematics and computer science. Con makes another bare assertion that Alan thinking of using celibacy to further his career would be illogical. But I've already explained above why it would be logical. Had he not been caught, convicted, and then had he not committed suicide, and had he continued with his mathematics and science career he likely would have gained recognition and hence more funding. This would've most likely lead to him making further contributions to mathematics and computer science. My bringing up the simple pleasures along with fulfilling personal ambitions is not a contradiction. A man can do great things in life and enjoy the pride and recognition that comes along with that, while still enjoying the simple things. By choosing not to be celibate Alan Turing's life ended in suicide which ended forever the chance of either achieving future ambitions or enjoying more simple pleasures alongside those achievements. Even had he not committed suicide his career was ruined by his conviction. The only way he could've gotten back into academia or into science at that point (at the point after having been convicted) would've been if he denounced homosexuality and declared himself "cured". But doing so would've been hurt the cause of gay rights. It would've been better had he chosen to be celibate from the beginning as then he could keep his career without having to make any statements about gay rights, or he could have even publicly admitted to being gay while saying he was celibate, saying that there was nothing inherently wrong with being actively gay but that he chose celibacy for the sake of not ruining his career and his opportunity to contribute for the good of humanity. Being an openly celibate homosexual would've closed some doors but kept enough open that then he could've both furthered positive innovations in mathematics and computer science and helped promote gay rights.