As mentioned above, the first thing that caught my eye was the sheer size of the document—roughly 250 paragraphs—which rivals that of most short stories. Yet, buried in the sea of words, "Ted" Kaczynski makes numerous well-thought-out points, primarily focusing on technology's detrimental affects on mankind. For instance, he claims that "drastic changes in technology...inevitably break down traditional values," which in turn lead to "the disintegration of small scale social groups." In my opinion, he is correct in coming to this assertion, because while each new communicative innovation (say texting) brings the capability of carrying on ten times the number of conversations, in the process our individuality that played such an important role in small social groups is lost. This in fact reminds me of Sven Birkert's article "Into the Electronic Millennium," where he similarly argues that through continued technological usage, we will see a "Waning of the private self."
What Birkerts and Kaczynski differ on, however, is the way in which they wish to accomplish and maintain their anti-technological revolutions. While Birkerts believes that stopping cold turkey is the best solution, Kaczynski says that in order to maintain the movement, technology must be used—primarily for communicative purposes—to a small extent. Either way, both believe that their ideas will be influential, and will bring a stop to the widespread usage of technology.
Towards the end of the manifesto, I was intrigued to look at the Unabomber's Wikipedia page. What I found shocked me. Born in '92, I was maybe 2 during the height of the bombings, and up until today, except for the occasional mention of his name, I had no idea who the Unabomber was, what his/her motives were, or how many people he/she had killed. So, looking through the paragraphs, I was shocked to see that he had killed 3 and injured 23 more. What still nags me, however, is what drove him to become a domestic terrorist? Why did he quit his job at Berkley to live in a cabin and make bombs? I suppose I will never know, but after finishing, I was glad to stand up, grab my things, and disembark from the plane.
What Birkerts and Kaczynski differ on, however, is the way in which they wish to accomplish and maintain their anti-technological revolutions. While Birkerts believes that stopping cold turkey is the best solution, Kaczynski says that in order to maintain the movement, technology must be used—primarily for communicative purposes—to a small extent. Either way, both believe that their ideas will be influential, and will bring a stop to the widespread usage of technology.
Towards the end of the manifesto, I was intrigued to look at the Unabomber's Wikipedia page. What I found shocked me. Born in '92, I was maybe 2 during the height of the bombings, and up until today, except for the occasional mention of his name, I had no idea who the Unabomber was, what his/her motives were, or how many people he/she had killed. So, looking through the paragraphs, I was shocked to see that he had killed 3 and injured 23 more. What still nags me, however, is what drove him to become a domestic terrorist? Why did he quit his job at Berkley to live in a cabin and make bombs? I suppose I will never know, but after finishing, I was glad to stand up, grab my things, and disembark from the plane.
No comments:
Post a Comment