Why Knowledge Is Meant to Be Shared…

When I was a child, I often heard my parents say, “Don’t share everything you know, others might go ahead of you 😂”

I believed it. I studied quietly, kept what I learned to myself , and thought that’s how we stay ahead. But as I grew up, I began to see how wrong that was. Knowledge doesn’t lose value when shared - it grows.

Learning by Sharing

In school / college days, We can see something simple that

• The friends who explained lessons to others always understood them better.
• Teachers never forget concepts because they keep teaching. That’s how they learn deeper each time.

Even our own name stays with us because it’s repeated, heard, and shared every day.

Knowledge works the same way — it lives through sharing.

The Walls Around Learning

When I reached college, saw most of my friends like me who wants to explore like learn new tools, and read about ideas from around the world.

But many times, they ended up exploring when it prompts to pay to proceed.. A single article cost more than what a student could afford.

That’s when I came across

Aaron Swartz’s Guerilla Open Access Manifesto : https://ia600101.us.archive.org/1/items/GuerillaOpenAccessManifesto/Goamjuly2008.pdf

He questioned why something created to help the world was being locked away. Why should learning depend on money or privilege?

His words made sense — knowledge built by humans should belong to humans.

What His Message Means Today

Even without realizing it, we already live parts of Aaron’s vision :

• Students share notes with classmates.
• Developers open-source their code.
• Teachers post lessons online.

Every time we help someone understand something, we keep that spirit alive.

What I Realized

Maybe our parents told us not to share because they wanted us to be safe. But today, when we share what we know, we make space for more growth, ideas, and connections.

Knowledge isn’t meant to be stored; it’s meant to move.

In Memory of Aaron

Aaron Swartz reminded us that access to knowledge is a right, not a privilege. We can honor him not just by remembering, but by continuing to share in classrooms, in code, in conversations.

Aaron

“Think deeply about things. Don’t just go along because that’s the way things are… Consider the effects, consider the alternatives, but most importantly, just think.” — Aaron Swartz