Aaron Swartz joined the RSS working group when he was 13. At 15 he became a foundational member of Creative Commons. He was working on precursors to markdown at 16.
We should not be locking young people out of our communities and keeping them away from digital tools that can open doors for them, expand their knowledge, sharpen their skills, and help them grow into well-rounded adults.
Swartz's bandwidth put him in the ether among the digital dragons and not beneath, even at thirteen.
Average kids can surely not compete against digital manipulation any better today.
Which is to say, another kid of Swartz's ability will find a way to be there, wherever there might be, creatively.
Machine learning for profit may have outpaced average kids' defensive skills for good, and most adults soon, too.
Nathan Dyer
rexi