in memoriam

Janis Joplin.  Curt Cobain.  Jimi Hendricks.  Jim Morrison.  Amy Winehouse.  All rock stars, rock gods, even.  Wonderful and gifted musicians at the pinnacle of their career.  All dead at 27.

On Friday, January 11, 2013, the world lost another kind of rock star.  He was 26.  He killed himself.

I don't permit myself many heroes.  My chosen field is technology, and there are many to choose from if you'd like to find an idol among them.  I will always fondly mention Grace Hopper, Alan Turing and Steve Jobs. Most of these did something truly revolutionary in their day.  Each of these stepped away from the pack and said there is a brand new thing that is possible.  Each used a determination that we all envy to forge a new thing, a new way of computing, or a new relationship to technology.  If you have a smartphone, a computer or even a GPS, you should be grateful to any of these people.  We should all be grateful.

The man who died on Friday probably won't be listed in anyone else's list of technology rock gods.  His name was Aaron Swartz.  Aaron began his path to being a computer genius when he was still a child.   At 14, he would co-develop RSS.   And at 20, Reddit.  By 26, he had founded Demand Progress.  There are about 14 active campaigns at Demand Progress, most of which are about civil rights, civil liberties, and government reform.  Swartz wasn't just making the newest shiny toy for all of us to adore; he was using his computer skills to try to change the world.

The one thing that Swartz could not change was his depression.  A deep and abiding sadness took him from us, leaving more of the same.  From the 14 year old boy that Aaron was, to the man he had become, the legacy of exceptional, natural intellectual power was accompanied by bouts of depression. In an excerpt from his blog, Swartz describes what depression is like, and then goes on to say:

The economist Richard Layard, after advocating that the goal of public policy should be to maximize happiness, set out to learn what the greatest impediment to happiness was today. His conclusion: depression. Depression causes nearly half of all disability, it affects one in six, and explains more current unhappiness than poverty. And (important for public policy) Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy has a short-term success rate of 50%. Sadly, depression (like other mental illnesses, especially addiction) is not seen as “real” enough to deserve the investment and awareness of conditions like breast cancer (1 in 8) or AIDS (1 in 150). And there is, of course, the shame.

In his time, Swartz was labeled a digital hero.  He was no rock god, but like so many talented young geniuses, there is the feeling that they were only ever ours to borrow.


And there is, of course, the shame.  We should all feel this shame.

Yes.  It is a shame.  Rest in peace, Aaron.  Thank you for your all of your service.