The Unabomber, Explained

.
sources:

[clericknight]

“Taking medications to tolerate conditions you naturally find intolerable” that hit me as fact

[verward]

It is truly disturbing how balanced this story is between complete insanity and wisdom. It makes me wonder how slippery the transition into madness is.

[retrochronic]

The problem with his philosophy is that very few people will give up the joys of the technology they have to live like him

[marcuscarcus]

The ending is quite interesting considering Luigi Mangione was influenced by Ted’s writings.

[themerrybeggar]

Its so rare and refreshing to find a YouTuber who covers a broad range of topics, and manages to do it all well, without sacrificing quality or cramming the videos full of annoying advertisements. This channel is like the conversations I wish I could have with friends.

[victorvaughn]

Kaczynski's two books are both must reads: "Technological Slavery" and "Anti-Tech Revolution". Everyone has heard of his manifesto, but few people realize he wrote and published these two other books from prison that go far beyond the manifesto and contain a ton of research and analysis.

[josezuniga]

This can be summarized as "the unibomber's ideas were based, but his methods were not"

[Chronoboy]

"What kind of freedom does one have if one can use it only as someone else prescribes?"
Such profound words.

[sum_ergo_cogito]

“I mean, technology is useful if it's used intelligently, but if it's used by people who are incompetent, then it’s not really effective.” — Ted, in an interview

[bob]

Being skipped ahead twice in school and attending college at sixteen probably shunted his ability to interact socially. I think this gets glossed over in order to talk about the experiments he participated in at Harvard. School isn’t just about book learning, we also develop the ability to socialize

[thecakecraft]

I have never heard a more enlightening statement than “Taking medications to tolerate conditions you naturally find intolerable”
Our world is under a depression epidemic and the solution that system provides is a pill that makes you accept the unacceptable, work longer and extract more value for.. the system.. who both invented your solution and caused your problem.

[AndreaFilippoLongo]

Who’s here after Luigi Mangione’s arrest?

[abraxasjinx]

When his capture and trial were in the media, I found it really regrettable that his violent tactics overrode his clearly prescient ideas and messages. It was clear to me even as a teenager, and I've continued to feel this way. We are living in an unsustainable condition. We are on a seesaw over a pit of lava.

[milascave]

I met the guy. It was at the 1990 Earth First! gathering in Montana. There was a board that people running workshops could put the name and time of their workshop on. It was not vetted. Ted put one up called "political assassination." The local media picked it up. A lot of folks there were angry at him and wanted him to leave. I actually stuck up for him. He just seemed lie a sad old guy.

[gutchman]

"Never lose hope, be persistent and stubborn and never give up. There are many instances in history where apparent losers suddenly turn out to be winners unexpectedly, so you should never conclude all hope is lost."
-Ted

[ryguy]

I remember watching the show on Netflix and always found it funny that he mentioned stopping at a stop light and you sitting there when you know for a fact that there’s no one else there and you could go

[markhirstwood]

TK was systematically tortured for years by Murray. This was intentional and extensive. When TK was small, he got very sick and was put in the hospital. His mum went home, leaving him there. When she came back, he wouldn't make eye contact with her. This betrayal must have affected him because his family said even later in life Ted would often just 'shut down' or withraw and I think it goes back to that early trauma. TK's brother may claim to have admired Ted but I think the reality was that his little brother envied Ted and tried to sabotage him, including getting him fired from a job then later, turning Ted in as the Unabomber, even rightly so, I think he secretly delighted in getting Ted put away for life. Btw, depression isn't a malfunction - it's a natural response to tell you that you have complex social problems that the mind is intent on solving. (Scientific American, 2009).

[yaboycoconuthead]

“To be too conscious is an illness” literally describes Ted.

[JustSomeDinosaurPerson]

While I empathize quite a bit with what Ted described as our systemic problems, I still find myself questioning his particular fantasies of solution in returning to primitive man in nature. To me, they are deeply romanticized and just as misguided. Ted frequently disregarded and omitted many of the problems among primitive man ranging from rampant competitive infanticide to rape.

[mikegamikega]

Even before I ever knew anything about Ted, I felt the same way about technology that he does. The more "progress" humanity makes, the more it leads itself to its doom. Almost every great technological advancement has created a worser threat than living with whatever inconvenience we had to deal with before it. Climate change, AI, Nuclear weapons, etc. Imagine a world where you did not know any different and your concern on the average day was hunting, foraging, and keeping your people safe. Now there are so many things to worry about outside our control that it is no wonder people have become so mentally ill.