I Sometimes Wish I Never Learned Computers
When I was little, my grandfather would often call to me from the living room and say, “Eddie, get away from that computer and come talk to your grandpa. We haven’t talked in so long.”
“Those computers are bad news, Eddie. You’ve been in your room for hours. Why don’t you come talk to your grandpapa, who loves you.”
I mostly ignored grandpa back then, but as I sit here today, part of me wishes that I had taken his advice and never learned computers.
Life would be so much easier, I sometimes think, if I had never learned how to touch type, surf the web, or shoot somebody an email. How simple life would be without spreadsheets, keyboards, or downloading files.
“This computer stuff is bad news, Eddie,” my grandfather’s words echoed through my head three years ago, as I began leaking classified documents from the National Security Agency to the press using — that’s right — my computer.
“Get away from that computer, Eddie, the computer is bad for you,” I heard him say again when, a few months later, the U.S. government announced that I was a wanted man.
Was grandpa right? Should I have never gotten into this computer stuff in the first place?
I know that these days, everyone sees me as this mysterious, looming figure in the world of computers. The Great Edward Snowden couldn’t possibly be afraid of computers, some of you might think.
But if I’m being honest, I’ve never really been comfortable with the power of the computer. Computer coding, USB drives, word processing—sometimes all of this stuff just creeps me out.
I don’t regret what I did. I truly believe that learning computers was the right choice.
But anyone who wishes to follow in my footsteps should understand: learning how to do computer stuff could come with a heavy price.
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