For a long time in recent history, Ted Kaczynski has been considered one of the most prolific mailbombers in the United States. His ideology felt that modern technology was evil and was what was destroying our society. Kaczynski did his best to live out his own ideology, moving away from academia and living in the wilds of Montana without electricity or running water. Kaczynski’s ties to academia are obvious throughout his work, Industrial Society and its Future. The criticisms he makes are widely regarded as reasonable and accurate, with praise given to him by prominent professors like James Wilson and David Skrbina. In class discussion, we also felt that some of his critiques resonated with us.
Kaczynski’s argument that without a struggle for survival, humanity finds themselves placing value on “surrogate activities” that are ultimately meaningless and unfulfilling, leaving people in modern society lacking true purpose in their lives. Many people turn towards the acquisition of money as their surrogate activity, desperate for status and power in their search for fulfillment. As a result, people lose the autonomy that they naturally search for. Much of what Kaczysnski had to say holds truth for me, but at the end of the day- it’s his actions that I disagree with. I don’t think that the destruction of our society is the answer to the problem that we have… I also don’t think that the destruction of our society is possible. At the end of the day, is it really so terrible to not have to worry ourselves with dedicating our lives to fulfilling our basic needs? Don’t our surrogate activities give life richer meaning?
I think that the exploration of the world around us and inside our heads is deeply fascinating, and I know that I at least gain fulfillment from it. From my white, upper middle class perspective, I feel like life is pretty good. For the people around me, this may not be the same. But I don’t know that it’s technology or modern medicine or surrogate activities that’s the problem. Doesn’t technology afford us the time to pursue the humanities, to learn about ourselves and each other? Maybe capitalism is the problem here, rather than technology in and of itself. I really don’t know.