Aaron Swartz
Eric Weinstein has mentioned Aaron Swartz numerous times in various conversations. Eric holds a strong admiration for Swartz's intellect and contributions, alongside a profound disappointment with the institutional failures that led to his tragic end. His comments reflect a deep emotional connection to Swartz, indicating that Swartz represented what academic and scientific communities should strive to be. Eric expresses a personal sense of loss and anger over how Swartz was mistreated by MIT, particularly as it is one of the institutions where Eric spent a substantial portion of his academic career.
Celebration of Swartz's Legacy: Eric believes that Swartz should be honored and remembered as a significant figure in the tech community, advocating for the creation of a building at MIT named after him to symbolize the importance of celebrating innovators rather than punishing them. He expresses that Swartz embodies the qualities that institutions should aspire to foster.
Critique of Institutional Culture: Eric critiques MIT and similar institutions for failing to protect their most creative minds, like Swartz, and instead succumbing to bureaucratic pressures. He sees Swartz's treatment as indicative of a broader systemic issue where institutions prioritize conformity over innovation.
Call for Change: Eric advocates for a cultural shift within academic institutions, encouraging them to become environments that support and nurture rule-breakers and innovative thinkers. He argues that institutions should focus on empowering their talent rather than stifling it.
Institutional Betrayal: Eric discusses the concept of "institutional betrayal," highlighting how the very structures that are supposed to support individuals can instead lead to their downfall. This theme resonates in both his conversations and tweets, as he underscores the need for institutions to reflect on their responsibilities.
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Protesters who are not making use of Projection Mapping make little to no sense to me.
The ability to use Iconic Buildings and natural formations to video animated messages without leaving any physical damage from your photonic graffiti while demonstrating your prowess is huge.
There may be much to protest shortly and for some time as we progressively lose the ability to speak to each other digitally. A thought.
Do not destroy when with slightly more work you can inspire and do so at scale. You have the tools to show that you can create while others in control only know how to loot, intimidate and destroy. Imagine how many of our leaders even know what this is...let alone how it is done.
In particluar, there's no excuse for Aaron Swartz not to be projected on to the Buildings all around MIT to haunt it as a constant message not to f**k with the technical talent pipeline that still makes the United States the world's big dog rather than the sheep it's becoming.
You can recover a surprising amount from just one simple statement: UAP, public health, standardized testing, immigration, mortgage backed securities, crypto, inflation methodology, String Theory, Aaron Swartz, Etc.
âInstitutions do not have the right to gaslight individuals.â
In a certain sense, that is the main through-line of my politics. Any institution that gaslights an ordinary human trying to make sense of the world in a reasonable fashion is wrong to me in a particularly profound way.
Donât know how to describe this as a political perspective.
Still pushing for a Swartz building at @MIT to acknowledge the loss.
Would have loved to have met him Susan. He inspires us to this day.
Aaron Swartz would/should be 38 years old today.