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The Unabomber Manifesto and Other Essays by Theodore Kaczynski
NOTE: This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and has been beautifully formatted (searchable and interlinked) to work on your Amazon e-book reader or iPod e-book reader.
Writings included in this volume:
-Unnamed Essay
-When Non-Violence is Suicide
-Hit Where It Hurts
-Industrial Society and Its Future (aka The Unabomber Manifesto)
Theodore Kaczynski, 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.
Beginning at the age of sixteen, Kaczynski participated along with twenty-one other undergraduate students in the Harvard experiments, which have been described as "disturbing" and "ethically indefensible."
A considerable amount of credible circumstantial evidence suggests that Kaczynski was the unwitting victim of top secret CIA-sponsored 'MK-ULTRA' mind-control experiments conducted at Harvard University from the fall of 1959 through the spring of 1962. Some experts suggest that these experiments may have been the cause of his emotional problems.
Kaczynski eventually 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.
In 1971, he moved to a remote cabin without electricity or running water, in Lincoln, Montana, where he began to learn survival skills in an attempt to become self-sufficient.
He decided to start his bombing campaign after watching the wilderness around his home get destroyed by development.
From 1978 to 1995, Kaczynski sent 16 bombs to targets including universities and airlines, killing three people and injuring 23. Kaczynski sent a letter to The New York Times on April 24, 1995 and promised "to desist from terrorism" if the Times or The Washington Post published his manifesto. In his Industrial Society and Its Future (also called the "Unabomber Manifesto"), he argued that his bombings were extreme but necessary to attract attention to the erosion of human freedom necessitated by modern technologies requiring large-scale organization.
The Unabomber was the target of one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) most costly investigations. Before Kaczynski's identity was known, the FBI used the handle "UNABOM" ("UNiversity and Airline BOMber") to refer to his case, which resulted in the media calling him the Unabomber.
Despite the FBI's efforts, he was not caught as a result of this investigation. Instead, his brother recognized Ted's style of writing and beliefs from the manifesto, and tipped off the FBI. To avoid the death penalty, Kaczynski's lawyers entered into a plea agreement, under which he pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Writings included in this volume:
-Unnamed Essay
-When Non-Violence is Suicide
-Hit Where It Hurts
-Industrial Society and Its Future (aka The Unabomber Manifesto)
Theodore Kaczynski, 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.
Beginning at the age of sixteen, Kaczynski participated along with twenty-one other undergraduate students in the Harvard experiments, which have been described as "disturbing" and "ethically indefensible."
A considerable amount of credible circumstantial evidence suggests that Kaczynski was the unwitting victim of top secret CIA-sponsored 'MK-ULTRA' mind-control experiments conducted at Harvard University from the fall of 1959 through the spring of 1962. Some experts suggest that these experiments may have been the cause of his emotional problems.
Kaczynski eventually 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.
In 1971, he moved to a remote cabin without electricity or running water, in Lincoln, Montana, where he began to learn survival skills in an attempt to become self-sufficient.
He decided to start his bombing campaign after watching the wilderness around his home get destroyed by development.
From 1978 to 1995, Kaczynski sent 16 bombs to targets including universities and airlines, killing three people and injuring 23. Kaczynski sent a letter to The New York Times on April 24, 1995 and promised "to desist from terrorism" if the Times or The Washington Post published his manifesto. In his Industrial Society and Its Future (also called the "Unabomber Manifesto"), he argued that his bombings were extreme but necessary to attract attention to the erosion of human freedom necessitated by modern technologies requiring large-scale organization.
The Unabomber was the target of one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) most costly investigations. Before Kaczynski's identity was known, the FBI used the handle "UNABOM" ("UNiversity and Airline BOMber") to refer to his case, which resulted in the media calling him the Unabomber.
Despite the FBI's efforts, he was not caught as a result of this investigation. Instead, his brother recognized Ted's style of writing and beliefs from the manifesto, and tipped off the FBI. To avoid the death penalty, Kaczynski's lawyers entered into a plea agreement, under which he pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 17, 2019
The guy really is a magnificent genius. He predicted the technological mess we're in.
May 16, 2023
I’m going to be honest. I did not finish this book. I read most of it but IT IS SO BORING. Do not read it. I hate Ted Kaczynski. Not because he harmed people, but because his book is HORRIBLE!!!
October 17, 2025
Great read. Highly recommend especially in these trying times. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
December 26, 2025
That interesting thoughts of a self hating trans/gay man. Acceptance saves lives.
May 15, 2024
Ted had very valid and serious criticisms of society. He predicted many of the horrible things that modern man is currently experiencing as a result of advancements in technology. These advancements have arrived as a result of economic growth. The process of which the two interact is very circular.
On the one hand, I do agree that man was never made to live like this. We do not struggle at all to obtain the most necessary things in life--food, water, shelter. Because of this, we create a struggle to obtain something with the same level of importance, however there is no such thing more critical than these. We pursue hobbies to their absolute end, become world record holders, champions, Nobel prize winners, millionaires, and so forth. Despite all this, everyone is depressed, on medication, seeing a therapist, or committing suicide.
Can there be any question that the demise of society begins with its individuals? The lack of real fulfillment and meaning in people's lives has pushed them to psychological extremes they cannot handle. They are assuaged of their psychic pain by the many colorful movies and TV shows that are released each year. Someone (an internet influencer) starts a movement to plant a bunch of trees and that satisfies them for a little while. We build a massive telescope to rocket into space and that reminds us that we can do hard things. But the pit of despair at the center remains.
Although I am tempted to agree that technology may be one of the root causes of our suffering, I cannot reasonably say that the solution is to completely destroy it all. I CERTAINLY cannot say that failure for the rest of society to agree with such a view justifies violence against them. This is where Ted and I disagree. I am puzzled because Ted seems in fact very reasonable when reading through his manifesto. I would expect him to realize, as any rational individual would, that malicious targeted violence could never yield the change in attitude that he seeks. Even if he COULD change the attitudes of the masses, did he really think he could eventually convince the entire WORLD to destroy the very technology which has shaped and crafted their present reality? To expect such, to me, is ridiculous. Ted would have been much better off writing this manifesto in the form of an essay or even a novel and then resigning himself to the world's issues and going off to live a solitary life like that of Henry David Thoreau (also an anarchist). I would have expected him to draw on the writings of such a man as well as Mahatma Ghandi--someone who also rejected modernity and was "anti-civilization". The canyon sized difference in their ideology obviously boiled down to their differing views on the use of physical force.
Edit: I just learned that Ted originally did try to live a peaceful life in the woods but was brought out of retirement by economic land development. Curse you, housing market! Also perhaps he should have moved to a more off the grid location? I mean how close was he to town to justify entire houses being made next to his cabin? Anyone getting Michael Scott in the woods off the highway Survivor Man vibes? I digress.
In any case I am disappointed that such valid and pointed criticism has been mired by a despicable track record of domestic terrorism. There can be no question that Ted was deranged but if he was able to keep his sanity somehow I think he would have been a very interesting mind to talk to. He seemed like he truly did care about humanity and where it was headed. I am sure he was shocked by how deplorable things got to be at the end of his life. This AI movement has been shaking the world but its not like we didn't see it coming. Whose to say it won't play out like Ted predicted and mankind will choose to hand over the keys to the kingdom to some superintelligent AI that knows what the "best" recourse is for a destructive species and a dying planet.
It is nauseating to consider just how many losing battles mankind is fighting to stay alive. Climate change devastating the natural world with no controls in sight, the threat of nuclear war always looming, society on the verge of collapse in a twisted Brave New World style, and the dawn of the machine overlords. Yippie kai yay for technology and all its boons! We pray the end come soon.
On the one hand, I do agree that man was never made to live like this. We do not struggle at all to obtain the most necessary things in life--food, water, shelter. Because of this, we create a struggle to obtain something with the same level of importance, however there is no such thing more critical than these. We pursue hobbies to their absolute end, become world record holders, champions, Nobel prize winners, millionaires, and so forth. Despite all this, everyone is depressed, on medication, seeing a therapist, or committing suicide.
Can there be any question that the demise of society begins with its individuals? The lack of real fulfillment and meaning in people's lives has pushed them to psychological extremes they cannot handle. They are assuaged of their psychic pain by the many colorful movies and TV shows that are released each year. Someone (an internet influencer) starts a movement to plant a bunch of trees and that satisfies them for a little while. We build a massive telescope to rocket into space and that reminds us that we can do hard things. But the pit of despair at the center remains.
Although I am tempted to agree that technology may be one of the root causes of our suffering, I cannot reasonably say that the solution is to completely destroy it all. I CERTAINLY cannot say that failure for the rest of society to agree with such a view justifies violence against them. This is where Ted and I disagree. I am puzzled because Ted seems in fact very reasonable when reading through his manifesto. I would expect him to realize, as any rational individual would, that malicious targeted violence could never yield the change in attitude that he seeks. Even if he COULD change the attitudes of the masses, did he really think he could eventually convince the entire WORLD to destroy the very technology which has shaped and crafted their present reality? To expect such, to me, is ridiculous. Ted would have been much better off writing this manifesto in the form of an essay or even a novel and then resigning himself to the world's issues and going off to live a solitary life like that of Henry David Thoreau (also an anarchist). I would have expected him to draw on the writings of such a man as well as Mahatma Ghandi--someone who also rejected modernity and was "anti-civilization". The canyon sized difference in their ideology obviously boiled down to their differing views on the use of physical force.
Edit: I just learned that Ted originally did try to live a peaceful life in the woods but was brought out of retirement by economic land development. Curse you, housing market! Also perhaps he should have moved to a more off the grid location? I mean how close was he to town to justify entire houses being made next to his cabin? Anyone getting Michael Scott in the woods off the highway Survivor Man vibes? I digress.
In any case I am disappointed that such valid and pointed criticism has been mired by a despicable track record of domestic terrorism. There can be no question that Ted was deranged but if he was able to keep his sanity somehow I think he would have been a very interesting mind to talk to. He seemed like he truly did care about humanity and where it was headed. I am sure he was shocked by how deplorable things got to be at the end of his life. This AI movement has been shaking the world but its not like we didn't see it coming. Whose to say it won't play out like Ted predicted and mankind will choose to hand over the keys to the kingdom to some superintelligent AI that knows what the "best" recourse is for a destructive species and a dying planet.
It is nauseating to consider just how many losing battles mankind is fighting to stay alive. Climate change devastating the natural world with no controls in sight, the threat of nuclear war always looming, society on the verge of collapse in a twisted Brave New World style, and the dawn of the machine overlords. Yippie kai yay for technology and all its boons! We pray the end come soon.
November 23, 2023
When no one is interested in your intellectual fears about technology, but nevertheless you think that it is a good idea to kill a few people, terrorize the rest, and threaten to keep doing it unless they publish and read your rants. I cannot help but think of Malcom X and his ideas that in some ways were more radical than these; who by standing for what he thought was right paid with his life for them and not have others die for them instead of him. As far as the ideas presented here - they are all just a second-hand compilation of some major ones, plus a lot of cheap and troubled psychology. Moreover, these days we prefer our mathematical prodigies to entertain us as prophets of the wonderful or terrible prospects of future AI or as nerds in shows like “The Big Bang Theory”; and definitely not as rouges going underground, trying to kill us, and thus disturbing our blissful entertainment/consumption.
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April 2, 2020Some interesting insights, but all too often his arguments are built on questionable assumptions. Others have discussed them - I see no need to articulate them again here. But, for the life of me, I can't understand how this man thought it was OK to main and kill innocent people. I was mildly curious on how this man could build an argument that would inevitably lead to murder. However, rationale for his killing is almost entirely absent here.
August 29, 2017
Fascinating, radical, eerie, and sometimes even insightful. Interesting glimpse at the philosophies of an atypical serial killer who likely considered himself a vigilante freedom fighter. I'm sure reading this has put me on some kind of watch list, but it was for intellectual curiosity only, I swear.
October 22, 2024
Be wary of the typos.
Kaczynski, Despite his attitude towards society, Wrote a profound and Thoughtful essay about his thoughts on the industrial society and regardless of whether or not you agree with them. He is a very well spoken man. Which is a shame that the transcription is terrible with dozens of typos And mistakes.
Kaczynski, Despite his attitude towards society, Wrote a profound and Thoughtful essay about his thoughts on the industrial society and regardless of whether or not you agree with them. He is a very well spoken man. Which is a shame that the transcription is terrible with dozens of typos And mistakes.
July 12, 2019
He thought deeply about problems with civilization. He wanted othe
rs to find solutions. I think if he'd thought through to the solutions he would have modified his hypotheses.
rs to find solutions. I think if he'd thought through to the solutions he would have modified his hypotheses.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews