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Aaron Swartz commits suicide

tech.mit.edu

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Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#201

Post by blackjack160 »

bpdthrow wrote: post #45

Aaron suffered from a brain disorder. He had documented periods of extreme withdrawn depression and others of mild manic productivity. Because of that brain disorder, perhaps because it was not attacked with the requisite treatment, he is dead. If you or a loved one are ever feeling suicidal, depressed, or are acting abnormally erratic, contact an expert. It's nothing to be ashamed about. It's just a lottery of genet…

/dying was very painful to read. Does Alex symbolize Reddit? Does the key lime cookie symbolize the money involved in the acquisition of the payment Reddit got? Is the "cafe trying hard to be international" the acquirer? Maybe I am reading into this too much, but the timing of that post seems too coincidental. It's almost like his will died with that whole process. RIP.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#202

Post by SquareWheel »

guywithabike wrote: post #190
SquareWheel wrote: post #184

Headline is a little misleading as Reddit admins deny his cofounder status. http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/9r8on/aaron_swar... https://twitter.com/alexisohanian/status/93374221685755904 Still very sad, of course. I was fully in support of Aaron during the JSTOR fallout.

https://aaronsw.jottit.com/reddit

I'm sorry, but merging with a company doesn't make you a cofounder of that company. You were not there when it was founded, thus it's not an applicable label.

I'm just asking for a title correction, not trying to slander the guy.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#203

Post by jacques_chester »

droithomme wrote: post #197
jspthrowaway2 wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has a point, though. It's pretty conservative to say "get help" for every thought about suicide. I think there's a difference between thinking about doing it or, say, wondering what death is like or whether you'd have the stones to go through with it. Honestly, I wonder what death is like a lot. That being said , I tend to agree with you to be more conservative, but I've had similar thoughts as the guy you're repl…

I was curious if some of those claims are true, especially since angst, existential despair and melancholy have been part of the human condition and described in one form or another by philosophers and others for thousands of years. I found this: http://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/Suicide-Myths.html > Myth: All suicidal people are mentally ill. 'Normal' people do not think about suicide. > Fact: Thoughts of sui…

I agree, but they're putting the same facts in a different light.

This question is really about the stigma of suicidal ideation ("Oh no, what if I'm a crazy person?"), rather than the fact that suicidal ideation is a serious symptom that should trigger reaching out for help.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#204

Post by option_greek »

jacquesm wrote: post #159

Man this so sucks. If you hit someone with enough felony counts sooner or later something can snap. This in response to those that claim the DOJ didn't have anything to do with Aaron killing himself. For some people the mere fact of being suspected of a crime they didn't commit is enough to push them over the edge. When you're placed in a holding cell the police will remove your laces from your boots so you don't han…

There is no need to speculate. The DOJ bought by corporate interests is directly responsible for his suicide. They are more worried about protecting corporate interests than worrying about the spirit of law.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#206

Post by mailshanx »

nanook wrote: post #121
antics wrote: post #34

Better eulogies will follow, to be sure, but in the mean time, much of what can be said about him is captured in a touching talk he gave called "How to Get a Job Like Mine" [1]. What I think is especially touching about this is how he gently deconstructs his success, demystifying his own legend by pulling back the curtain on what would have otherwise appeared to be a string of miraculous accomplishments. In the proce…

> he reveals himself to be a sensitive, seemingly grateful, and thoughtful person. Definitely. He wrote a bunch of blogposts last year on improving life, called "Raw Nerve": http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/rawnerve Wonderful writing.

This. I first saw a raw_nerve post here on HN, and that's how i got to know of Aaron. Such writing requires an ability for introspection, among many other things. I find it hard to contemplate how someone with such a mind could possibly commit suicide. Sad day, indeed :(.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#207

Post by jacquesm »

jacques_chester wrote: post #186
jacquesm wrote: post #159

Man this so sucks. If you hit someone with enough felony counts sooner or later something can snap. This in response to those that claim the DOJ didn't have anything to do with Aaron killing himself. For some people the mere fact of being suspected of a crime they didn't commit is enough to push them over the edge. When you're placed in a holding cell the police will remove your laces from your boots so you don't han…

You've confused the roles of judges and a prosecutors. They're not the same.

I took these to be part of the DOJ:

"The criminal investigation and today’s indictment of Mr. Swartz has been directed by the United States Attorney’s Office. It was the government’s decision whether to prosecute, not JSTOR’s. As noted previously, our interest was in securing the content. Once this was achieved, we had no interest in this becoming an ongoing legal matter."

So it's not as if anybody outside the government was still pressing charges over this.

Judges, United States Attorneys, they could have all put a stop to this, instead they allowed it to roll on destroying a life in the process, regardless of what Aaron did to himself or not.

Re: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

#210

Post by droithomme »

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.

There is a mental illness here and the mental illness is thinking that his suicide is unrelated to the massive witch hunt against him by the US Federal Government hellbent on his personal destruction at any cost.

Those who deny that that had anything to do with this, and it was only a "brain disorder" or other such claptrap are truly insane.

I've had students who for years were systematically abused and tortured by adults. This abuse caused them pain, distress, depression, and suicide ideation, not a chemical imbalance. Despite this, counselors they saw diagnosed them as having a chemical imbalance and pumped them full of pills that have psychosis and suicide as known and documented side effects.

Who is insane in this situation? Who is responsible for the damage it causes when a young person is targeted for destruction by sociopaths and it causes them to crack? A chemical imbalance? Not the things that are being done to them by others intentionally trying to harm them?

This attitude justifies the abuse of people. This attitude leads to suicide. This attitude needs to stop.

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