"Stealing is stealing whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data, or dollars."
- U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz in the case against Aaron Swartz
26-year-old Aaron Swartz, co-founder of Reddit and great contributor to RSS technology, allegedly committed suicide on January 11. As a strong advocate of the philosophy that information should be accessed freely, he had stolen approximately four million scholarly articles from MIT's online database, JSTOR. Although JSTOR did not press charges, the United States government did not drop the case. Swartz could have served up to 35 years in jail and been fined $1 million. Faced with these possibilities, Swartz decided to take the only sure way out.
Swartz's theft via hacking is unarguably wrong, both legally and morally (Lessig, L.). He, in part, must be blamed for getting himself into the situation he was in. However, it was wrong for the government to treat Swartz's case in the way that they did. This was not a high-profile hacking job. Swartz wasn't stealing credit card data or information that could lead to identity theft. He wasn't a terrorist reading confidential files from the Pentagon or military networks. He took scholarly articles that anyone on MIT's network could have accessed. The government should not have intimidated Swartz by threatening charges that are fit for one accused of homicide. Yes, hacking is wrong, but there are degrees of severity that should be well-defined in federal internet regulation laws.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/15/tech/web/aaron-swartz-internet/index.html
http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/prosecutor-as-bully
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Ever Learning
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be . . . [e]ver learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
- 1 Timothy 3:1-7
With information at our fingertips, we are always learning. Knowledge is in no short supply, but what of wisdom? Wisdom is "knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action" (dictionary.com). Knowledge is necessary for wisdom, but it is not sufficient. Knowledge alone only "increase[s] sorrow" (Ecclesiastes 1:18), because information alone cannot change anything. Wisdom additionally requires both proper judgment and action. Proper judgment, unfortunately, cannot be learned through Google or Facebook. Proper judgment can only come through understanding Truth. Such understanding is gained only from experience and taking time to ponder and to meditate. Once technology causes us to stop experiencing things as they are and to stop taking time to ponder, we cannot have proper judgment and therefore cannot be wise. Once we lose wisdom, we will only have knowledge, and then there is no difference between us and our technology.
- 1 Timothy 3:1-7
With information at our fingertips, we are always learning. Knowledge is in no short supply, but what of wisdom? Wisdom is "knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action" (dictionary.com). Knowledge is necessary for wisdom, but it is not sufficient. Knowledge alone only "increase[s] sorrow" (Ecclesiastes 1:18), because information alone cannot change anything. Wisdom additionally requires both proper judgment and action. Proper judgment, unfortunately, cannot be learned through Google or Facebook. Proper judgment can only come through understanding Truth. Such understanding is gained only from experience and taking time to ponder and to meditate. Once technology causes us to stop experiencing things as they are and to stop taking time to ponder, we cannot have proper judgment and therefore cannot be wise. Once we lose wisdom, we will only have knowledge, and then there is no difference between us and our technology.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Introduction
"Human reason has this peculiar fate that in one species of its knowledge it is burdened by questions which, as prescribed by the very nature of reason itself, it is not able to ignore, but which, as transcending all its powers, it is also not able to answer."
- Immanuel Kant, from Critique of Pure Reason, 1781
This quote separates knowledge into two classes: knowledge that can be determined through reason and knowledge that cannot. In other words, there is "reasonable knowledge" and there is "unreasonable knowledge." Reason seeks after both classes of knowledge, but reason alone can only find the first.
Reasonable knowledge is supported by logic, fact, mathematics, proofs, observation, or scientific experimentation. As a computer scientist, I work a lot with reasonable knowledge. I thrive on functions and equations, numbers and statistics. When people think of knowledge and intelligence, it is often this class that comes to mind. It is the knowledge of the learned, the intellectual. It created the atomic bomb, put man on the moon, eradicated crippling and deadly diseases, and developed the smartphones of today. There is undeniably great power in reasonable knowledge.
There are, however, questions that reasonable people should and do ask that cannot be answered with reason alone. As Kant said, reason is "burdened by questions which . . . it is . . . not able to answer." What is the purpose of life? What is the potential of man? What force drives the soul of the artist, the poet, the musician? What defines good and evil? Surely these are reasonable questions; it would be unreasonable indeed to live life without ever wondering why you do what you do every day. As Socrates wrote, "The unexamined life is not worth living." It is only reasonable to ask such questions, yet the answers cannot be found using reason alone. No equation or proof can answer these questions. Hence the need for unreasonable knowledge. Instead of being fueled by logic, mathematics, and science, unreasonable knowledge is fueled by faith, hope, and charity.
The world often sees these two classes of knowledge as contradictory. The academic world at large encourages reason and scoffs at faith. They mock the Christian, saying that "it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come" (The Book of Mormon, Helaman 16:18). As for me, I am a computer scientist. As I mentioned previously, reason is the very core of my field. I am also, however, an active Christian. I am so much a Christian, in fact, that if I had to choose between the knowledge I've gained through reason and the knowledge I've gained through faith, I would choose the latter.
In this blog I will address many subjects related to computer science. Though computer science is largely fueled by reason, I will address issues regarding unreasonable knowledge. I will address moral and ethical issues within the field, and I will back up arguments not with my logic but with my faith. I ask those intellectuals who claim to be reasonable to not discard this, but to be open-minded and ask the reasonable questions that cannot be answered by reason.
- Immanuel Kant, from Critique of Pure Reason, 1781
This quote separates knowledge into two classes: knowledge that can be determined through reason and knowledge that cannot. In other words, there is "reasonable knowledge" and there is "unreasonable knowledge." Reason seeks after both classes of knowledge, but reason alone can only find the first.
Reasonable knowledge is supported by logic, fact, mathematics, proofs, observation, or scientific experimentation. As a computer scientist, I work a lot with reasonable knowledge. I thrive on functions and equations, numbers and statistics. When people think of knowledge and intelligence, it is often this class that comes to mind. It is the knowledge of the learned, the intellectual. It created the atomic bomb, put man on the moon, eradicated crippling and deadly diseases, and developed the smartphones of today. There is undeniably great power in reasonable knowledge.
There are, however, questions that reasonable people should and do ask that cannot be answered with reason alone. As Kant said, reason is "burdened by questions which . . . it is . . . not able to answer." What is the purpose of life? What is the potential of man? What force drives the soul of the artist, the poet, the musician? What defines good and evil? Surely these are reasonable questions; it would be unreasonable indeed to live life without ever wondering why you do what you do every day. As Socrates wrote, "The unexamined life is not worth living." It is only reasonable to ask such questions, yet the answers cannot be found using reason alone. No equation or proof can answer these questions. Hence the need for unreasonable knowledge. Instead of being fueled by logic, mathematics, and science, unreasonable knowledge is fueled by faith, hope, and charity.
The world often sees these two classes of knowledge as contradictory. The academic world at large encourages reason and scoffs at faith. They mock the Christian, saying that "it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come" (The Book of Mormon, Helaman 16:18). As for me, I am a computer scientist. As I mentioned previously, reason is the very core of my field. I am also, however, an active Christian. I am so much a Christian, in fact, that if I had to choose between the knowledge I've gained through reason and the knowledge I've gained through faith, I would choose the latter.
In this blog I will address many subjects related to computer science. Though computer science is largely fueled by reason, I will address issues regarding unreasonable knowledge. I will address moral and ethical issues within the field, and I will back up arguments not with my logic but with my faith. I ask those intellectuals who claim to be reasonable to not discard this, but to be open-minded and ask the reasonable questions that cannot be answered by reason.
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