The Imitation Game

Si: Allan Turing was a detail oriented person, meticulous in all things and precise to the point of not even noticing larger social rules and customs. Turing had a tough time picking up on social cues and reading behind the lines. However (unlike the Turing represented in The Imitation Game), he had a keen sense of humour, and was an extremely approachable person. His co-workers at Bechley Park were actually quite fond of him, and in most aspects, Turing was polite and well mannered.

Te: Allan Turing was task oriented and consistently to be found working on a project. He was the type of person who preferred to work alone because he feared other people would “slow him down.” Efficiency was a prime priority for Turing, and he had little patience for people who couldn’t see its importance. Turing’s thoughts worked mathematically, such that everything was a problem to be solved. His focus was primarily on functionality, and was known to make friends with people purely for the work they could accomplish for him. Some might call this callused, but then, we have to remember that because Turing was willing to do that, he saved millions of lives. Turing liked to be in charge, and though his social skills were a bit lacking, he understood how to organise and compartmentalise people to accomplish the impossible.

Fi: Turing was an accomplished marathon runner, and likely ran as a coping mechanism, rather than venting his feelings to people. Turing’s friends were far and few, but those people he loved deeply. He placed high value on his relationships and went out of his way to maintain them (yeah, sorry, another inaccuracy in The Imitation Game). After breaking off his engagement with Joan Clarke, the two remained friends for many years to come. Turing was a straightforward, honest individual and made little effort to hide his homosexuality.

Ne: Though Turing did not accomplish the incredible feats achieved at Blechley Park during WWII alone, he was very much the out-of-the-box thinker that eventually led them to their solutions. While the others wanted to work in the traditional mode of code breaking by hand, Turing thought to build a machine that would do their work for them.

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To those who were introduced to Turing by the recent film The Imitation Game, there were a number of inaccuracies in the depiction of Turing’s personality, so keep that in mind.