There is a lot to be said about the Unabomber and his family... There are so many facts about this family that are strange and quirky. The father commThere is a lot to be said about the Unabomber and his family... There are so many facts about this family that are strange and quirky. The father committed suicide by shooting himself when he found out he had cancer (but without telling the rest of the family), Davids long infatuation with his eventual wife is a strange story by itself as well as his decision to live alone in the desert for 8 years. Will write a longer review later but first I have to take some time to digest this memoir. ...more
“The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.” Talk about an epic way to start a text. There is so much to “The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.” Talk about an epic way to start a text. There is so much to this manifesto that it is hard to easily sum up. As a joke I let Chatgpt summarize the manifesto:
1. The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have led to the degradation of the environment, the erosion of human freedom, and the collapse of traditional societies.
2. The rise of technology and the scientific method have contributed to the decline of human dignity, individuality, and creativity, and have resulted in a culture of conformity and passivity.
3. The institutions of modern society, including government, education, and the media, are complicit in perpetuating the system of control and domination that has led to the current state of affairs.
4. The only way to achieve true freedom and individual autonomy is through a radical transformation of society, which would involve a rejection of technology, mass society, and the values of modernity.
5. The Unabomber sees himself as a revolutionary who is waging a war against modern industrial society, using violent means to draw attention to his cause and to force people to confront the problems that he sees as inherent to the system.
Technology cannot be controlled as it is a self-sustaining system where big companies have an incentive to keep evolving the technology without really having any final goal in sight. He also doesn't believe that we can stop this development through reform and believes that technology is far more important than ideology. Reform of the system is impossible because society is an organic whole and therefore one small change will have repercussions which cannot be forseen. Social changes mainly serve the people who initiated those changes and they will not become permanent unless they are part of some larger societal development (eg. the evolution of technology).
One of the most interesting aspects of this text is Kaczynskis views on human nature and what we humans need in order to live meaningful lives. We are driven by a will to power and achieve status. In order to do this we set up goals and try to achieve them. In more primitive societies it was possible to actually achieve some control over your own life but in the modern world we are dependent on machines. In the future the most important work will be done by thinking machines and therefore humans will become passive. We are learning how to be helpless which in turn causes depression and various other psychological problems. The system tries to cover these problems up by prescribing drugs so that people won't become too angry and rebel.
His characteristic of the leftist movement was quite on point. One would think that Kaczynski would join forces with them but he believes that leftists aren't really rebels. One of his theories is that modern man is oversocialized and that he therefore has completely internalised the morality of society. He therefore constantly feels ashamed when he tries to behave in a way which goes against societal norms. The leftist is someone who is so oversocialized that they are driven by an inferiority complex and therefore everything that can be seen as succesful has to be destroyed (like Western civilization). Because of this feeling of inferiority they can never be content as an individual and instead find strength in being part of a collective movement. It should be noted that Kazcynskis concedes that these are gross generalisations.
I found the manifesto funny at times as it is clear that it is written by an angry person but one with a lucid mind. Kaczynski places too much emphasis on a certain autonomy, one which I don't think is possible unless one lives alone. It can also be shown in the work of recent anthropology that primitive cultures also had different forms of hierarchies/political structures. Who would want to live in those societies? Although the determinism contained in the unabomber worldview is seductive, I believe that individuals actually can effect society's development (although the degree can be discussed).
I too wonder what will happen once AI starts to take over more and more jobs. What will people do? The only solace I can find is that consciousness is something different from intelligence and in the end it is our conscious experience which is what really matters. I believe that because of this there will always be a demand for humans to create meaningful work for each other. But who knows?...more
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