Industrial Society and its Future

[seang]

I am currently reading Ted Kaczynski's essay, out of curiosity. Have any of you bothered to read it? Aside from his crimes, he is outstandingly brilliant. There are many interesting subjects, mostly about the downside of the advancement of large scale technologies. I am expecting mixed responses from people on here about this. Please, indulge.
Modified by seang at 10:38 AM 6/25/2009

[smockers83]

Of course he's brilliant, he's a Michigan man. Nuf said.

But I haven't read any of his work.

[seang]

Well, I have finished reading it. It's noteworthy that Dr. Kaczinski's essay was free of almost any grammatical error ,(with the exception of some words being spelled with all capitol letters to emphasize significance), in spite of being typed on a manual typewriter with no backspacing or spellcheck. It can be considered a masterpiece depending on how you look at it, (or don't look at it for that matter). I'm glad I read it.

[heliochrome85]

Theodore John Kaczynski (pronounced /kəˈzɪnski/; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber, is a United States murderer, mathematician, and neo-Luddite social critic who carried out a campaign of mail bombings. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where, as an intellectual child prodigy, he excelled academically from an early age. Kaczynski received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and earned a PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan. He became an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley at age 25 but resigned two years later.

sounds like someone went to school.

[HashiriyaS14]

I've never read it, although I'd like to.

It seems like it would run directly contrary to my personal worldview, which is why I want to read it all the more.

Generally, I feel that invention is mankind's only real strength. We are not necessarily compassionate or fair by nature, but we ARE ingenious, generally. Thus, I believe that our destiny as a species is to either:

A.) Invent our way out of all our problems, including any scarcity of resources, social issues, and problems created by our own inventions.

B.) Fail at doing this and thus ultimately die as a species.

I will not postulate as to the likelihood of either, but generally, in a far-future evolutionary sense, I do believe that our success as a species will hinge on our ability to engineer away any and all threats the universe poses to us or threats that we may pose to ourselves.

Not to get too deep into it, but in a religious sense, I generally believe events were set in motion by a creator in hopes of us or some other sentient species ultimately achieving "A".

[AZhitman]

I generally believe events were set in motion by a creator in hopes of us or some other sentient species ultimately achieving "A".

^ Get outta my head.

[HashiriyaS14]

^ Get outta my head.

Yep. My version of "creationism" and evolution are not mutually exclusive, lol.

[AZhitman]

Yep. My version of "creationism" and evolution are not mutually exclusive, lol.

[ishkabibble]

Yep. My version of "creationism" and evolution are not mutually exclusive, lol.

Most people who believe in evolution do not rule out a Creator. Evolution is not about how we got to the starting point.

I think B) is going to happen; we will eventually succumb to pollution or a pandemic.

I could be wrong, maybe our God-given ability to compose music will save us somehow.

[480sx]

No one can prove how life started, no one can create life in a lab with A G T C, or anything for that matter. That in and of itself simply says that denying the possibility of some form of a 'god' or creator..

[themadscientist]

Whatever helps people not become overwhelmed by the life that depending upon what you believe: A. was given to you by some supreme beingorB. just happened as a funny coincidence.

I have more pressing matter to attend to. I know why I am here, to piss people off, and it takes all my time.

I do agree that our species survival will hinge on our inventiveness. We will either be saved or destroyed by our own minds and the things they create.

[HashiriyaS14]

Most people who believe in evolution do not rule out a Creator. Evolution is not about how we got to the starting point.

^^It was not my intention to insinuate otherwise, or to imply that all people who buy into evolution are agnostic. I was just stating my own personal viewpoint.

[seang]

I tend to believe what Dr. Kaczynski said in the essay, the system cannot be reformed, it will only lead to more compromises. I, however, can reform. There are too many things for me to quote in this post, thats why I just read it. Being 35,000 words, it took me a few days to absorb its message.
Modified by seang at 9:03 PM 9/23/2009

[seang]

Heres the link, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/...uture, Its a good read, and even funny sometimes, particularly when he dogs leftism, right on.