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The Unabomber Was Right
He saw the future when nobody else did.
I remember when I first read Ted Kazcynski’s 35,000-word manifesto, “Industrial Society and Its Future,” in 2014. I was a teenager at the time, and I was really blown away by his ideas. He saw the dangers of technology in a way that most people didn’t. A madman who saw the future when nobody else did.
The manifesto is a lengthy and detailed critique of modern industrial society. Kaczynski argues that technology has led to a loss of freedom, a decline in human intelligence, and an increase in violence.
He calls for a revolution to overthrow industrial society and return to a simpler way of life. Well, he was right.
Kaczynski was seen as a crazy old man who was living in a cabin in the woods. But his belief on technology becoming increasingly intrusive is truer than ever. Here’s a piece of his manifesto.
The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life expectancy of those of us who live in “advanced” countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural…
