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
We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file-sharing networks.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of open access to scientific knowledge and resources.
Aaron Swartz's quote advocates for the free sharing of academic research and scientific journals, highlighting the ethical concerns around the accessibility of knowledge. By promoting the idea of downloading and uploading these resources to file-sharing networks, Swartz calls for a culture where information is readily available to all, rather than being restricted by paywalls and subscription fees.
Themes
AccessScienceKnowledgeSharingFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on open access, one might say: 'As Aaron Swartz once stated, we need to download scientific journals and upload them to file-sharing networks.'
More from Aaron Swartz
All quotes →Without the ability to talk about government power, there's no way for citizens to make sure this power isn't being misused.
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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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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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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.
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Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves.
Aaron SwartzRead
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