When Warren made his mark in the internet world, he also reached middle school age, but the middle school curriculum bothered him. He started reading books on how the history of education had evolved and learned how a model of education came about that he believed could only be learned by avoiding it, and his brother believed that Warren didn't need to be in the School studies are similar to history courses, and Warren said he can study at home as long as he has a history book, and he doesn't particularly need to learn history.
How Warren developed these fine study habits is not mentioned in the film, but it is conceivable that he obtained most of his knowledge on the Internet. Colleagues who have worked with him have said that he showed strong debating skills at the age of 14 (from the side, his logical ability is very strong, which also has a certain relationship with him as a programmer).
He admits that since middle school he began to have a skeptical attitude towards everything, which is what we often call critical thinking. In his words: what kind of society produced such an educational model, and what kind of government led to such a society? I think that this kind of questioning is also the cornerstone of his future social activities, starting from doubts and pushing things to change step by step.
We have to admit that Warren is a unique talent. The reason for Warren's precociousness is not explained in the documentary, and all we see is this result. A gifted child, he has been in touch with computers since the age of 2, and then became obsessed with programming. At the age of 14, he participated in the customization of the RSS1.0 system. The clues of his future activities can also be seen from his budding projects. He has been committed to the sharing and dissemination of information from the very beginning. Long before the wiki was launched, he built a website called info, which generated information by users. People are constantly modifying and optimizing. Strikingly similar to wiki. The RSS protocol enables us to efficiently read user-defined feeds through the reader, saving the time of separate browsing and improving the efficiency of obtaining information.
After going to college, he frequently participated in the activities of Internet information sharing organizations, established and joined some organizations to promote the projects on information disclosure and information acquisition on the Internet. The databases of major American academic institutions store knowledge wealth that should be shared by all human beings, but these wealth are occupied and sold by a small number of institutions. Profit by selling to various colleges and universities. Warren saw this kind of injustice and used technology to massively download documents from the institution, which eventually led to his conviction for a felony. In my opinion, the procedure only improves the efficiency of a behavior. As long as the behavior is legal, the program only speeds up the behavior. Why is such a heavy sentence imposed? The explanation in the film is that Warren's actions may not be convicted, but another of his earlier, influential pronouncements may have been the straw to overwhelm the camel's back. Patterns of human cultural wealth. This made the prosecutors feel a crisis. They believed that Warren did not try to touch the unreasonable law by himself, but was determined to completely overthrow it and set off a historical trend to end this private possession of knowledge.
The law refutes what seems clear to us with high-sounding reasons. Warren's girlfriend said that the judges looked bored, did not want to understand the reasons Warren said, and were not interested in open source knowledge. All the judge wants is to finish the case as soon as possible, set an example for future hacking crimes, and then promote himself.
The first sentencing didn't break Warren, who led what was his only major social movement victory after appearing on bail. The U.S. Congress is about to introduce a new bill that establishes a system that defines companies as censorship-qualified to stop pirated content on the web and can shut down web servers when necessary, while lawmakers in Congress The approval of the bill was passed almost unanimously, which was rare in the past, indicating that behind the revision of the bill, the opinions of the big consortiums remained surprisingly consistent. Warren devised a program that effectively opened up the channel between the general public and Congress, allowing everyone with access to the Internet or phone to easily express their disapproval to Congress. In the end, the White House issued a statement that it did not agree to pass the bill, and believed that the bill was inappropriate, and its original intention was to deal with online piracy, but it would eventually destroy the Internet due to unchecked online censorship. The campaign, started by Warren, eventually won.
But soon the second revised trial opinion was issued, adding 10 felonies to the first trial. Warren was under great pressure and eventually committed suicide in the apartment.
In addition to Warren's genius, his own learning is also important. The film only briefly introduces his upbringing. But how did that kind of perseverance and constant struggle at a young age come about? It may be related to Warren's learning experience when he was a child. When he gained knowledge from books, he had a superhuman understanding of books and knowledge. Perhaps when he was young, no one could teach him more. How to acquire more knowledge and acquire the needed knowledge more effectively.
A few days ago, when Zheng Chunyang and Wang Sihao were sorting out the information of the previous founder of the mountain, Zheng Chunyang said that after so many years, the level of plasma research has not improved much. Things in the 1960s are no different from what we are learning now. Although the words are a bit extreme, it is also a fact. Looking at the political study documents in the 1960s, it is almost the same as now, and even the way of speaking has not changed. It's the same thing that Warren felt, how do we avoid this shit and get that real knowledge, how do we avoid these brainwashing documents? Warren chose to drop out of school, avoid it radically, and learn on the Internet or through his own reading (the room where he programmed was a small library). How should we learn?
Warren's tragedy may be due to his genius and vulnerability. We are mediocre, but it also causes our psychology to be able to bear more. Learning from him how to use our time and acquire knowledge is probably the most important thing for us. Warren's lifelong commitment to promoting open access to knowledge and showing us how he thinks critically is perhaps his greatest legacy.
View more about The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz reviews
