The Unabomber Manifesto: Industrial Society and Its Future

By Theodore Kaczynski

The Unabomber Manifesto: Industrial Society and Its Future - Theodore Kaczynski
  • Release Date: 2011-09-06
  • Genre: Politics & Current Events
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 111 Ratings

Description

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 world. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. It will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world, it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in "advanced" countries.

Reviews

  • Prescient

    4
    By Dr. Strangelove!
    Without exonerating Ted Kaczynski, his thoughts on techno-industrial society and modern man’s increasing dependence on technological innovation - to the detriment of individual, and sometimes collective, freedoms - warrants consideration amongst even his most ardent critics. His acts are unforgivable, but his thoughts aren’t worthless. Considering that he was able to predict all the current issues swirling in the national dialogue - over-dependence on technology, factions using these advances for political gain, and the inability for modern man to stop “progressing” to detriment of his freedoms, psychological health, and planetary health - I think he deserves recognition even if his thoughts are quite brief. I’d say this reading is best paired with “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” and “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humans” by Yuval Noah Harari. I’ve recently read these myself and found Harari’s writings an interesting pair for this manifesto.
  • Enlightening

    5
    By Rust Belt Warrior
    Recently, I watched a four part series on Netflix about Ted Kaczynski titled “Ted Kaczynski in his own words”. His essay has helped me to further understand how he viewed our world during his time ‘in the woods’. I do not in any way shape form condone his bombing campaign. I have empathy, compassion and sympathy for the people he killed and maimed both physically and mentally for the rest of their lives. It is a horrific tragedy what happened to these innocent people. But, Kaczynski does bring up some very prescient points about the negative effects technology has on humans relative to our mental, emotional and spiritual well being. I bit choppy and fragmented in many parts; the essay was well worth my time to read.
  • Ugh

    1
    By Aanarky
    Long winded justification of rejecting modern society. Interesting, insightful for the first 80-ish paragraphs, but sort of loses its novelty at that point. Fails to really address the emotional and spiritual elements of being — and looks at humanity through a fractured lens.
  • The work itself is very interesting, this edition is terrible.

    2
    By jmiles28
    Tons of misspellings and misprints. Who in the heck edited this?
  • The Unabomber’s manifesto

    5
    By ADoPeprikos
    Genius. Intellectual. A brilliant FACTUAL account of what society has become. A few minor details that need to be corrected. Otherwise a brilliant piece of literature.
  • Some mistakes

    5
    By Jnonvić
    The version contains some mistakes which I highly recommend to correct them as soon as possible.
  • Interesting

    5
    By yayosanni
    I know it was written by an infamous serial killer but this book is a conversation starter. Makes you wonder about our society today.