The Imitation Game: A perspective
"Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine."
- Alan Turing
The movie celebrates the enduring spirit of Man to do tremendous good in spite of adversity that jeopardizes your entire existence. The movie depicts in glorious detail the life of a lesser known man, Alan Turing, even in this age of computers and the prospective era of artificial intelligence systems and humanoids. If Adam was the first man to ever come into being, then 'Christopher' was the first thinking machine. Alan Turing's path-breaking invention marks what was to be the beginning of Mankind's tryst with digital thinking machines that not only perform tasks that solve problems at lightening speeds, but are extensions of ourselves. The movie admirably juxtaposes the absurdity of his attachment with his machine as opposed to another human being (his ex-fiance, Joan Clarke enacted by Keira Knightley) during the final few minutes. At the same time, one can notice that his attachment to his creation stems from his childhood friend/companion who introduced him to cryptography. Cryptography or the art of writing or solving codes was the premise on which the Bletchley Radio Factory recruits him for his services.
Alan was also in love with this boy. Alan's life serves as a poignant example that throws light on the struggle needed to pursue one's goals in the face of a hypocritical society. The people who seek to change the world, can only do so by first correctly identifying it's flaws prior to a search for solutions. And in the process of doing that, one may end up in a head-on collision between you and the society. However, in Alan's case the collision is compounded by his sexual orientation in an age of rigid homophobia. Alan's homosexuality gets blown out of proportion overshadowing his unprecedented contributions, under the barrel of Britain's homophobic laws.
The status of women in the fields of science and mathematics in mid-20th century Britain is portrayed in the movie. Joan Clarke is a genius cryptoanalyst. Joan Clarke is indeed faster than Alan Turing at solving puzzles but the concerns of society and parents, hold her back many times to pursue her passions and do something of her talent. Her parents think it "indecorous" for a woman to work so faraway from home and amidst the company of men, an issue that resonates to this day. Alan Turing urges and encourages her to pursue her dreams as they are driven by a common passion, that of solving puzzles.
Another lesson that his life teaches us is the rather important need to communicate in a manner that is deemed pleasant by society, irrespective of good intentions. Alan's unusual and complex personality coupled with not-so-suave conversational skills result in a series of bad first impressions that go on to deeply influence the goings-on of his life. Joan Clarke, plays a critical role in bridging this gap between his sour relationships with his colleagues, as he finally forges a friendly bond with them.
It is not enough, or even necessary to be good at heart, but it is crucial to show that you mean good, by the utilization of words, gestures and body language. This is christened in a conversation that takes place between Christopher and Alan in the school's lawns, whence Christopher remarks, "Cryptography is the science of codes". Alan retorts, "like secret messages." Christopher elaborates, "Not secret. That's the brilliant part. Messages that anyone can see but no one knows what they mean, unless you have the key". Alan points out, "How is that different from talking?" and goes on to say, "When people talk to each other they never say what they mean. They say something else. And you're just supposed to know what they mean. Only, I never do. So how is that different?". After this exchange Christopher hands him the book on cryptography commenting that he had a funny feeling that he's going to be very good at it. This leads to Alan's lifelong love of decoding and cryptoanalysis that finally culminates in cracking the military code of Nazis "unbreakable" and "impossible to crack" Enigma machine. The decoding of which saves 14 million lives and cuts the war short by 2 years, as per historians.
This breakthrough that was brought about by the machine he invented, is the ancestor of the laptop using which I write this article, and which millions use today for myriad purposes; from programs that lead space-faring missions to remote parts of the universe to interacting with anyone from across the planet.
If he had been around today, he'd have found respite as he watched over the endless generations of his beloved progeny, 'Christopher' the first computer.
- Alan Turing
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| Alan Turing Source: https://alchetron.com/Alan-Turing-1374575-W |
The movie celebrates the enduring spirit of Man to do tremendous good in spite of adversity that jeopardizes your entire existence. The movie depicts in glorious detail the life of a lesser known man, Alan Turing, even in this age of computers and the prospective era of artificial intelligence systems and humanoids. If Adam was the first man to ever come into being, then 'Christopher' was the first thinking machine. Alan Turing's path-breaking invention marks what was to be the beginning of Mankind's tryst with digital thinking machines that not only perform tasks that solve problems at lightening speeds, but are extensions of ourselves. The movie admirably juxtaposes the absurdity of his attachment with his machine as opposed to another human being (his ex-fiance, Joan Clarke enacted by Keira Knightley) during the final few minutes. At the same time, one can notice that his attachment to his creation stems from his childhood friend/companion who introduced him to cryptography. Cryptography or the art of writing or solving codes was the premise on which the Bletchley Radio Factory recruits him for his services.
Alan was also in love with this boy. Alan's life serves as a poignant example that throws light on the struggle needed to pursue one's goals in the face of a hypocritical society. The people who seek to change the world, can only do so by first correctly identifying it's flaws prior to a search for solutions. And in the process of doing that, one may end up in a head-on collision between you and the society. However, in Alan's case the collision is compounded by his sexual orientation in an age of rigid homophobia. Alan's homosexuality gets blown out of proportion overshadowing his unprecedented contributions, under the barrel of Britain's homophobic laws.
The status of women in the fields of science and mathematics in mid-20th century Britain is portrayed in the movie. Joan Clarke is a genius cryptoanalyst. Joan Clarke is indeed faster than Alan Turing at solving puzzles but the concerns of society and parents, hold her back many times to pursue her passions and do something of her talent. Her parents think it "indecorous" for a woman to work so faraway from home and amidst the company of men, an issue that resonates to this day. Alan Turing urges and encourages her to pursue her dreams as they are driven by a common passion, that of solving puzzles.
Another lesson that his life teaches us is the rather important need to communicate in a manner that is deemed pleasant by society, irrespective of good intentions. Alan's unusual and complex personality coupled with not-so-suave conversational skills result in a series of bad first impressions that go on to deeply influence the goings-on of his life. Joan Clarke, plays a critical role in bridging this gap between his sour relationships with his colleagues, as he finally forges a friendly bond with them.
It is not enough, or even necessary to be good at heart, but it is crucial to show that you mean good, by the utilization of words, gestures and body language. This is christened in a conversation that takes place between Christopher and Alan in the school's lawns, whence Christopher remarks, "Cryptography is the science of codes". Alan retorts, "like secret messages." Christopher elaborates, "Not secret. That's the brilliant part. Messages that anyone can see but no one knows what they mean, unless you have the key". Alan points out, "How is that different from talking?" and goes on to say, "When people talk to each other they never say what they mean. They say something else. And you're just supposed to know what they mean. Only, I never do. So how is that different?". After this exchange Christopher hands him the book on cryptography commenting that he had a funny feeling that he's going to be very good at it. This leads to Alan's lifelong love of decoding and cryptoanalysis that finally culminates in cracking the military code of Nazis "unbreakable" and "impossible to crack" Enigma machine. The decoding of which saves 14 million lives and cuts the war short by 2 years, as per historians.
This breakthrough that was brought about by the machine he invented, is the ancestor of the laptop using which I write this article, and which millions use today for myriad purposes; from programs that lead space-faring missions to remote parts of the universe to interacting with anyone from across the planet.
If he had been around today, he'd have found respite as he watched over the endless generations of his beloved progeny, 'Christopher' the first computer.
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