What if there was a library which held every book? Not every book on sale, or every important book, or even every book in English, but simply every book - a key part of our planet's cultural legacy.
Aaron SwartzRead
But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations. Want to read the papers featuring the most famous results of the sciences? You'll need to send enormous amounts to publishers like Reed Elsevier.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the issue of access to scientific knowledge and the monopolization of information by corporations.
Aaron Swartz emphasizes the growing concern over the control of scientific and cultural knowledge by a few powerful entities. He argues that, while the wealth of information has been built over centuries, it is increasingly locked away behind costly paywalls, limiting access for the general public and undermining the very essence of knowledge sharing that drives progress and innovation.
Themes
AccessKnowledgeScienceCorporationsInformationMonopoly
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on open access, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of free knowledge.
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Large corporations, of course, are blinded by greed. The laws under which they operate require it - their shareholders would revolt at anything less.
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We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file-sharing networks.
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Think deeply about things. Don’t just go along because that’s the way things are or that’s what your friends say. Consider the effects, consider the alternatives, but most importantly, just think.
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Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves.
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