

A Moment Before Dying - gosub
http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/dying

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timothya
In its original version, 'Alex' used to read 'Aaron'[1].

[1]:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/1octb/reddit_cof...](http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/1octb/reddit_cofounder_aaron_swartz_discusses_how_he/c1oezk)

~~~
guessWhy
Wow. It's also worth reading the comments below the original article.

"You’re scaring me here. Please sick around and talk to us. You can always die
later. There’s no rush."

"Jeez, Aaron - get some help. Now. Suicides talk about it before they do it."

etc.

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monochromatic
You guys are getting creepy with all the Aaron Swartz stuff.

~~~
benjohnson
My work ethic sucks compared to Aaron. My politics are the opposite as Aaron.
My views on God are the opposite as Aaron's.

But, damn it, I recognize the pain that Aaron has gone as the same pain that
we all go though. There's a lesson here for each of us, somewhere, in Aaron's
life and indeed his death.

Frankly, let people mourn the best they can, and even if you don't understand
their grief, let them alone for a few days.

~~~
monochromatic
Aaron did impressive things, and it sucks that he killed himself. If talking
about his suicide prevents others from doing the same thing, then that's a
positive thing.

That doesn't make it a non-creepy thing to do for an entire community to trawl
through his website and post everything he ever wrote.

~~~
nitrogen
When people die, their friends (or in this case, never-met Internet
supporters) share their fond memories of the dead, go through old photos, etc.
Posting old things from Aaron's web site is a natural extension of this.

~~~
monochromatic
Over 90% of the HN front page was aaronsw stuff. It seemed a little excessive.

~~~
nitrogen
Far less than when Steve Jobs died, and for a shorter duration.

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espeed
In the comments...

"It needn’t be this way, for there is a cure: the joy of life. Sanity can be
restored through attempts at music, channeling the fundamental disorder into
form and elegance, focusing the energy toward good. Art, especially the art of
nature, as Alexander suggested, is likely another cure." —Aaron Swartz

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lmarinho
Interesting that he uses the term "objects in space" on this text. I wonder if
it was inspired by the Firefly episode with the same name, which itself
reflects the directors reading of Nausea[1].

[1]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausea_(novel)>

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kachnuv_ocasek
Am I strange for not understanding it?

~~~
gambiting
No, I don't understand either

~~~
voidlogic
I feel like I understood it, but it is hard to put into words. I find that
strange.

Emotionally it is easier to explain: It makes me feel like I did after the
first time I watched American Beauty, read The Yellow Wallpaper, or listened
to Bush's Razorblade Suitcase start to finish. Surreal maybe.

Perhaps in this case understanding is more emotion than cognition?

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esharef
Sounds like a lot of people tried to help him and that this wasn't a full
surprise.

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vassvdm
Wow that was intense. I have goosebumps all over...

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polarix
wtf this is exactly what happened to me at exactly that time wtf

