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Aaron Swartz commits suicide

tech.mit.edu

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Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#91

Post by jacques_chester »

catch23 wrote: post #65
jacques_chester wrote: post #33

This is terrible news. Depression is treatable. If you find that you are thinking about suicide, even speculatively, seek help immediately . You are not alone and it will get better.

did he have a history of depression? perhaps it was simply due to stress or pressure? The thought of spending the next 35 years in prison for downloading documents can be pretty painful... probably as bad as someone who was wrongfully tried for murder.

Depression is the leading cause of suicide. Almost all suicides are somehow connected to it.

It can have many causes. Sometimes it's innate to the person, sometimes it's brought on by circumstances; oftentimes multiple factors are involved.

But the bottom line is:

If you are thinking about suicide, get help. Right now.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#92

Post by rdtsc »

krzyk wrote: post #70
toyg wrote: post #32

Every single person employed by the US Attorney Office involved in this tragedy should be sued to hell by the family. Have some goddamn responsibility for once. This is utterly disgraceful, I feel for his family.

Did any of the employees of US Attorney Office forced him (like putting a gun to a head of one of his loved ones) to do it? It was his own choice to end his life.

> Did any of the employees of US Attorney Office forced him

No, but they absolutely chose to prosecute him to the fullest. They also I am guessing didn't do it randomly. Some decision went into it. If you look at a post above, even the original journal (at least "officially") lost interest, someone, a cog in the DOJ, for whatever reason (I assume, political) must have said "pedal to the metal with this one".

Here is DOJ, spending tax dollars, trying to shove this person in prison for 30 years or so, for downloading scientific papers. There is really no other more dangerous or more pressing cases?

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#93

Post by jlgreco »

achompas wrote: post #86
jlgreco wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have no problem directing our attention at bullying when we consider elevated teenage suicide statistics, but if those bullies happen to be in government they are suddenly off limits and deserve no blame?

Man, I don't want to make this point here, but comparing this to bullying is ridiculous. There's a difference between a child who is victimized while growing socially and emotionally and an adult man who allegedly broke the law knowingly.

You're right, this isn't really comparable to bullying, the imbalance of power is much more extreme. It is comparable to an adult beating a child for using a profane word. A completely mindbogglingly disproportionate response; convicted rapists get less time on average than what he was looking at.

JSTOR didn't want him pursued like he was, but the justice department was trying to nail him to the wall anyway. They wanted blood, and unfortunately they got it.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#96

Post by krzyk »

jlgreco wrote: post #84
krzyk wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did any of the employees of US Attorney Office forced him (like putting a gun to a head of one of his loved ones) to do it? It was his own choice to end his life.

If it is a depressed person's "choice" to kill themselves, then perhaps we should simply treat depression by telling people "Hey, have you tried not being sad?" . What a childish attitude towards a complex issue.

Oh, do you think that it's better to walk on your toes when you are walking pass anyone, just because they might have depression and you might trigger them to commit suicide? How anyone can know that if you accuse someone of committing a crime, that someone will get so depressed that he will kill himself? Do you propose to just get rid of courts?

What's this attitude on HN to praise suiciders?

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#97

Post by sks »

krzyk wrote: post #64
lopatin wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because he was a brilliant and loved computer programmer who was facing 35 years in prison. Can you imagine the US Attorneys office treating you in the same manner they treat rapists because you wrote a downloader script? I'd say it's a very reasonable assumption. RIP Aaron

Nobody sane would kill himself - it's against the nature of all beings. Besides it's the easy way out.

Someone who could have contributed very positively to the society just killed himself. We can't reverse that, the best we can do now is to learn from this incidence and try to minimize it in the future. Explaining it away in the name of insanity will not help.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#98

Post by jlgreco »

krzyk wrote: post #96
jlgreco wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is a depressed person's "choice" to kill themselves, then perhaps we should simply treat depression by telling people "Hey, have you tried not being sad?" . What a childish attitude towards a complex issue.

Oh, do you think that it's better to walk on your toes when you are walking pass anyone, just because they might have depression and you might trigger them to commit suicide? How anyone can know that if you accuse someone of committing a crime, that someone will get so depressed that he will kill himself? Do you propose to just get rid of courts? What's this attitude on HN to praise suiciders?

What the fuck is wrong with you? Who the hell is praising suicide?

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#100

Post by wilfra »

dyno12345 wrote: post #69
aneth4 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you provide more information about which brain disorder?

It's a way of describing "depression" in a way that doesn't feel compatible with blame.

He was more accurately describing bipolar disorder, whether he realized it or not.

Are you implying that depression or BPD is 'compatibile with blame'? If so, that's absurd.

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