Any other Kaczynski readers out there?

I get it...he was a killer. He also had very insightful and prescient thoughts on tech and where we are headed.

Anywho...reading this again and thought some here may have read some of his writings as well.

If so....what are your thoughts on his ideas, not his actions....

Personally I look at his writings as that of a somewhat visionary. Yes, he did awful things and I understand this.

My start of reading about him was when the feds rolled through Bozeman MT when I lived there and I saw the bus taking him out.

I think there are plenty of evil people in history that have been brilliant....brilliance usually comes with a tormented soul in my opinion. That soul can either do good or bad, but the thoughts and writings are typically on a level that makes these types hard to talk about or admire for what they could have contributed or done.

Anywho.....TK is one of those people for me.

Well...this appears to be the black plague of threads....

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Dont really know much about the Unabomber aside from him being a domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor.

Can you summarise what he said and/or his ideas that are of interest?

Edit: watching this for some context.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Dont really know much about the Unabomber aside from him being a domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor.

Can you summarise what he said and/or his ideas that are of interest?

I cant really summarize it any better than the back cover:

Logical, lucid, and direct, Technological Slavery radically reinvigorates and reforms the intellectual foundations of an age-old and resurgent world-view: "Progress" is a myth. Wild nature and humanity are fundamentally incompatible with technological growth.

In Technological Slavery, Kaczynski argues that: (i) the unfolding human and environmental crises are the direct, inevitable result of technology itself; (ii) many of the stresses endured in contemporary life are not normal to the human condition, but unique to technological conditions; (iii) wilderness and human life close to nature are realistic and supreme ideals; and, (iv) a revolution to eliminate modern technology and attain these ideals is necessary and far more achievable than would first appear.

Drawing on a broad range of disciplines, Kaczynski weaves together a set of visionary social theories to form a revolutionary perspective on the dynamics of history and the evolution of societies. The result is a comprehensive challenge to the fundamental values and assumptions of the modern technology-driven world, pinning the cause of the rapidly unfolding catastrophe on technology itself, while offering a realistic hope for ultimate recovery.

Note: Theodore John Kaczynski does not receive any remuneration for this book.

a reply to: andy06shake

Hmmm....questionable pick for getting info.....but not unexpected.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Seems that Ted would not be up for the singularity that's inevitably in the post.

Watching that vid the now.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Happily accept other sources(her voice is annoying LoL).

Any particular preference?

Edit: Scratch her she said "Hooked up to ""Electroids"".

Shes not got a bachelor's degree anyroad. LoL

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Happily accept other sources(her voice is annoying LoL).

Any particular preference?

LOL...yes...her voice is annoying. And no other source than his own writings. Can't really understand unless you read it....it is very well written. He is a very intelligent person.

a reply to: Vasa Croe



But canny be that smart Vasa Croe, considering his actions.

Coz if that's not faulty logic, im not sure what is.

I'm sure he's not daft in the traditional sense all the same.

I would need to read more than just his Industrial Society and Its Future Manifesto or there about i suppose.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Vasa Croe

But canny be that smart Vasa Croe, considering his actions.

Coz if that's not faulty logic, im not sure what is.

I'm sure he's not daft in the traditional sense all the same.

I would need to read more than just his Industrial Society and Its Future Manifesto or there about i suppose.

This book has his manifesto included....just has a lot more along with it.

And sure....you can be a madman and a genius at the same time. He believed in extremism to get his views/ideas across....his views/ideas alone were not mad....his actions were.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Fine line really i suppose.

But the blowing people up part mate.

That never ends well.

No matter the cause.

Hence my ambivalence to place my belief in his ideas or supposed intellect.

Fact of the matter smart people still do stupid things.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

You should check out Harvard And The Unabomber:: The Education Of An American Terrorist. It gets into how the experiments he went through while he was there shaped him. It's an interesting read.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
Well...this appears to be the black plague of threads....

If you mentioned election fraud or ballot forgery you'd be flooded with replies by now. I think there's a giant spotlight they shine in the sky to notify the resident superheroes to flood the thread.

Kaczynski was obviously bright and I read the manifesto as published in whatever (L.A. Times maybe?). I didn't read this bound and expanded version and it's been some time since I read the original, but I recall agreeing with his overall premise. Technology seems to amplify the worst things about us as a species while only superficially helping us actualize our potential. The solution is always one more technological leap forward, but quickly turns into three more problems which need three more technological leaps forward.

Some day we'll have much better tech, but I wonder if by then we won't have much bigger problems fueled by our much better tech. I wonder if then too, with even more tech, might we still be unsatisfied and unfulfilled? All our tech just seems to get warped toward whatever ends the people in power want it to, expanding our knowledge base while simultaneously slipping a leash of technological surveillance over our necks.

I remember back when there were no algorithms allowing AI to put us on watchlists for our posts. We peons got Alexa and TPTB got access to everything we ever write or say, seems like a lopsided trade-off.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
Well...this appears to be the black plague of threads....

It caught my interest. As for him being infamous. Every printed word is an opportunity for knowledge. I do not have to agree with them to learn something from them. Or not.

I was rapt with his writings. He was prophesizing our very existence, and I could not agree with him more, until page 96 I think it was where he is lamenting not being able to getting his message into the mainstream media, "...and that's when we had to start killing people."
So coldly matter-of-fact. I could not read further, my mind couldn't comprehend.
Why do some people have such a need to be heard?
If he could have waited just a couple of years, he coulda been an internet contender, coulda been a champ, instead of a bum, which is what I am.

I saw something to the affect that the people he targeted was for revenge for their involvement with mk something or that whole round Italian pie thingy that's forbidden to discuss. He was a genius unfortunately he have have taken the leap to crazy in a disturbing way or vengeful whatever.
a reply to: Vasa Croe

I can agree with a lot, if not most, of his thoughts about the affects of technology on society. I mean... it's literally already been happening.

Heck, there's even the "Social Dilemma" documentary out now.

I also agree that people should live closer to the earth, and be more present and active in their communities than outting all of their effort in their online facade.

But, he wasn't the first person to criticize technology, and he won't be the last, he had a message, but no practical solution.

Then he got all butthurt that no one was taking him serious so he started killing people.

Yeah, what a lot of good that did. Now he's in supermax, and society is moving on without him.

He was right in saying you can't get rid of the bad parts of technology, and keep the good parts.

That's because technology isn't inherently bad. It's the people who utilize it that causes it to be one way or another.

It's not a technology problem. It's a people problem.

Technology isn't going anywhere. People need to change, and refocus on their offline lives and their communities.