Industrial society and its future

Why Theodore Kaczynski was right

In 1995, there was a man living in a cabin in the middle of the woods in Montana. His name was Theodore Kaczynski. Is this something special? No. Not particularly. But there was something special about this man. You see, he was smart. He had gone to Harvard and had taught as a university professor for some time. He was an excellent mathematician. Why would such a successful man go and live in the woods? Because he realised the truth about Industrial Society. Long stories short - he killed some proponents of Industrial Society, and, at the time of this writing, is sitting in a jail cell.

He wrote an article called Industrial Society and its Future which goes over what he expects to happen if industrialisation continues. Most people, when they read the article, are shocked by how true it is. They feel enlightened. This was not the case for me. When I read it I felt as if it was confirming thoughts that I had already thought. The only shock that I got was because of how accurately his thoughts aligned with mine. I thought I was the only one who thought about aspects of Industrial Society such as the loud noises. I didn't expect anyone, let alone someone in 1995, to write about how loud the machines of Industrial Society were.

Another thing is the so-called "prophesies" which he writes. Here is an excerpt from his article: 158. It presumably would be impractical for all people to have electrodes inserted in their heads so that they could be controlled by the authorities. But the fact that human thoughts and feelings are so open to biological intervention shows that the problem of controlling human behavior is mainly a technical problem; a problem of neurons, hormones and complex molecules; the kind of problem that is accessible to scientific attack. Given the outstanding record of our society in solving technical problems, it is overwhelmingly probable that great advances will be made in the control of human behavior. When I read this I instantly thought of Elon Musk's Neuralink project. Keep in mind that this was written around 1995. He had seen the trends in technology and noticed that this kind of technology could be possible in the future. You can also note from his writing style how smart he is.

He is also inclusive to people's beliefs. When speaking about the cause behind natural phenomena he always refers to it saying something like, "God, chance or nature".

The time in which he lived was not even as bad as it is now, but he considered things to be bad. It just shows how humans eventually come to accept a whatever is thrown at us - positive or negative. And we have come to accept increasingly negative things.

He talks about a revolution in the article, but I'm not sure about the plausability of it actually succeeding. I would want a revolution, but I know, as Theodore has stated, that there will be a lot of bloodshed.

My closing suggestion is that you read the article. Perhaps it will open your mind to some wisdoms that you have not known.