I listened to the Audible version of The Unabomber's Manifesto about a year ago, and I was struck by how prescient it seemed. Had he not been caught and convicted of trying to blow up a few dozen people, we might talk about it in far different terms today.
His most basic point, in my listening, was #3: People need to take part in the "power process" to derive meaning from life. They need to be forced to strive for goals and then, upon achieving what they aim for, they derive satisfaction. This applies particularly to young males.
Technology has eliminated this "power process" to such an extent that we now erect fake goals that can't impart meaning. Virtue signaling is an example of this -- it requires almost no effort and imparts a like amount of meaning.
Your summary was really good. I came away with a nearly identical reaction. The guy may have lacked any moral compass, but his diagnosis of what ails our society has aged quite well.
Fantastic takeaway, Laramie. I think we can add social protest to the bin of fake goals. Living here in NY I saw floods of people walk onto the train tracks to protest the killing of Jordan Neely.
I'm against the killing of a homeless man, but the protests only served to pit regular people vs. regular outraged people.
It's all regular people trying to kill each other instead of going after the groups and systems manipulating them. Saddest part is you can see in the eyes of the outraged social protestors that this is their moment, this is their meaning...
I listened to the Audible version of The Unabomber's Manifesto about a year ago, and I was struck by how prescient it seemed. Had he not been caught and convicted of trying to blow up a few dozen people, we might talk about it in far different terms today.
His most basic point, in my listening, was #3: People need to take part in the "power process" to derive meaning from life. They need to be forced to strive for goals and then, upon achieving what they aim for, they derive satisfaction. This applies particularly to young males.
Technology has eliminated this "power process" to such an extent that we now erect fake goals that can't impart meaning. Virtue signaling is an example of this -- it requires almost no effort and imparts a like amount of meaning.
Your summary was really good. I came away with a nearly identical reaction. The guy may have lacked any moral compass, but his diagnosis of what ails our society has aged quite well.
Fantastic takeaway, Laramie. I think we can add social protest to the bin of fake goals. Living here in NY I saw floods of people walk onto the train tracks to protest the killing of Jordan Neely.
I'm against the killing of a homeless man, but the protests only served to pit regular people vs. regular outraged people.
It's all regular people trying to kill each other instead of going after the groups and systems manipulating them. Saddest part is you can see in the eyes of the outraged social protestors that this is their moment, this is their meaning...
Sobbering!