Snowden is an orderly thinker, with an engineer's approach to problem-solving.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I think in some ways what Snowden is, is he's a mix of a cold war spy novel and post-9/11 spy novel.
Snowden was extremely good at digital self-defense. When he was employed by the C.I.A. and N.S.A., one of his jobs was to teach U.S. national security officials and C.I.A. employees how to protect their data in high-threat digital environments.
Creating something is all about problem-solving.
I do not agree with what Mr. Snowden did. He has damaged American international relations and compromised our national security. He leaked classified information and may have jeopardized human lives. That must be condemned.
A lot of people in the technology space love the idea of a solving a problem.
We only think when we are confronted with problems.
Mr. Snowden is a coward who has chosen to run.
People are not problems to be solved. They are mysteries to be explored.
For a spy novelist like me, the Edward J. Snowden story has everything. A man driven by ego and idealism - can anyone ever distinguish the two? - leaves his job and his beautiful girlfriend behind. He must tell the world the Panopticon has arrived. His masters vow to punish him, and he heads for Moscow in a desperate search for refuge.
Julian Assange is self-consciously an individual. He thinks in his own way, primarily as a physicist, having studied pure maths and physics at university in Australia where he grew up.