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Ted Kaczynski has died

nytimes.com

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Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#441

Post by msla »

ly3xqhl8g9 wrote: post #127
californiadreem wrote: post #32

Anyone who disagrees with Kaczynski's ideas because they came from a convicted terrorist should read the works of Jacques Ellul instead, of which Kaczynski's was largely a popular reduction. The Technological Society is the clearest influence on Kaczynski's manifesto, but Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes is possibly more pertinent in this day and age. Ellul was a professor, a pacifist, and a Christian ana…

Also Lewis Mumford [1], Günther Anders [2], or if you want to go truly underground, Gilbert Simondon [3] [4] or Friedrich Kittler [5]. If there are thinkers who have been in the conceptual space of the 23rd century and beyond, Simondon was surely one. Also radically of the future and forgotten is FM-2030 [6] [7]. All in all, blowing up people is easy, blowing up antiquated concepts, grasping for the grounds of a new…

> If there are thinkers who have been in the conceptual space of the 23rd century and beyond, Simondon was surely one.

The 23rd Century shouldn't belong to ecofascists.

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#442

Post by tptacek »

bkohlmann wrote: post #352

One of my good friend’s dad was brutally murdered by Kaczynski when she was a young teenager. A small bomb in a package that used razor blazes, nails, and other bits of metal to nearly tear his head off while his young family was in the house with him. And it turns out the victim was the “wrong” man, as he didn’t even work on the project Kaczynski wanted to bring “retribution” for. Kaczynski May have said some intere…

When threads about Kaczynski come up, I try to remind people that the guy attempted to take down an American Airlines jetliner. He got a bomb on board in the cargo bay designed to explode at altitude --- and it did indeed explode, caused the plane to lose pressure, and filled the cabin with smoke. There were 78 people on board that flight, and but for the skill of the pilots, Kaczynski would have murdered all of them.

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#443

Post by msla »

dbspin wrote: post #307
golemotron wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Besides, to think that there even is such a thing called technology (as distinguished from what) is incredibly naive The same could be said about Capitalism.

This is an ideological position, termed Capitalist Realism [1]. Given the failing of social reproduction, environmental protection, long term planning against existential and systemic risk, the mental health crisis and the collapse of civil and political life, under entrenched and victorious capitalism - an increasingly absurd one. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalist_Realism

Don't make this political.

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#444

Post by dennis_jeeves1 »

bm3719 wrote: post #42

Certain points in Kaczynski's manifesto greatly influenced how I view the world, and I feel they have positively influenced my life in many ways (e.g., trying to live life less wastefully, using nature to ground oneself in reality, evaluating the true total cost of ownership of products of industry). RIP.

Well if that manifesto influenced you, have a look at my profile and the link on it which have my cynical writings.

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#445

Post by catiopatio »

happytoexplain wrote: post #413
catiopatio wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The zero-sum command-economy view of free speech: we have to exercise prior restraint on what people can say to ensure that there’s room for the people we approve of to speak.

This seems pretty un-generous. The parent is citing a real, straight-forward cause-and-effect which does not necessitate or even imply a zero-sum game, nor does it imply the extremist solution you're accusing them of supporting.

The zero-sum game and extremist solution are inherent in their position.

As the parent says in their reply below:

> My post was a call for being smarter about who we invest in.

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#446

Post by joemazerino »

bkohlmann wrote: post #352

One of my good friend’s dad was brutally murdered by Kaczynski when she was a young teenager. A small bomb in a package that used razor blazes, nails, and other bits of metal to nearly tear his head off while his young family was in the house with him. And it turns out the victim was the “wrong” man, as he didn’t even work on the project Kaczynski wanted to bring “retribution” for. Kaczynski May have said some intere…

Chilling to read your post. I hope they have recovered, forgiven and moved on.

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#447

Post by msla »

californiadreem wrote: post #32

Anyone who disagrees with Kaczynski's ideas because they came from a convicted terrorist should read the works of Jacques Ellul instead, of which Kaczynski's was largely a popular reduction. The Technological Society is the clearest influence on Kaczynski's manifesto, but Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes is possibly more pertinent in this day and age. Ellul was a professor, a pacifist, and a Christian ana…

[flagged]

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#448

Post by dennis_jeeves1 »

fairity wrote: post #324

My takeaway from Kacynski’s manifesto is that he makes an astute observation about the root causes of unhappiness, but then proposes an absurd solution. The astute observation is that a lot of unhappiness is driven by over-socialization and a commitment to inauthentic, subjective values. The solution, to tear down technology to force mankind to work on more primitive goals, only makes sense if there are no alternativ…

>Thankfully there are many alternatives.

What exactly are they?

(the last I checked is that it's virtually impossible to live somewhere (even remote) off the land, without paying a ton in taxes, if you did succeed in some manner without attracting attention in a remote place it would soon get the attention of authorities in due course).

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#449

Post by Stratoscope »

californiadreem wrote: post #417
bkohlmann wrote: post #352

One of my good friend’s dad was brutally murdered by Kaczynski when she was a young teenager. A small bomb in a package that used razor blazes, nails, and other bits of metal to nearly tear his head off while his young family was in the house with him. And it turns out the victim was the “wrong” man, as he didn’t even work on the project Kaczynski wanted to bring “retribution” for. Kaczynski May have said some intere…

[flagged]

Not every Unabomer victim was killed.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gelernter

Re: Ted Kaczynski has died

#450

Post by shrimpx »

sph wrote: post #67
crhulls wrote: post #31

His manifesto is worth reading. Although he was obviously a twisted man many of his predictions for the future were eerily prescient. http://editions-hache.com/essais/pdf/kaczynski2.pdf

Yes. Someone linked the manifesto in an HN thread ages ago, and I found more level-headed and thought-provoking than I would have imagined from someone able to commit such evil acts. I do not agree with everything he wrote in the manifesto, and certainly not with his violent methods, but it's stuck with me in this era of naive techno-optimism which I find myself more disillusioned with by the day. If the name on the…

This "third position" is basically anarchy, or anarcho-primitivism.

It's not really a political position, it's more like a pathological insistence that civilization should be destroyed. Kaczynski went as far as saying we're biologically wired to live primitive lives and we're misusing ourselves in perversions that he calls 'surrogate activities', which include science and art. To him, hunting or trying to survive while being hunted in the woods is the perfect utilization of the human mind-body, and we should all abandon society and go do that instead.

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