cabininthewoods 's review for:

Industrial Society and Its Future by Theodore John Kaczynski

5.0

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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Kaczynski’s manifesto  “Industrial Society and Its Future,” highlights the current and inevitable future consequences of the industrial revolution and technological development. He presents his ideas in a rational and coherent way that is easy to read for the general public, while simultaneously logical-driven and analytical. 

Kaczynski views control of human beings as a necessity for the technological system's survival and efficiency:

“The system has to regulate human behavior closely in order to function. At work people have to do what they are told to do, otherwise production would be thrown into chaos. Bureaucracies have to be run according to rigid rules. To allow any substantial personal discretion to lower-level bureaucrats would disrupt the system and lead to charges of unfairness due to differences in the way individual bureaucrats exercised their discretion. It is true that some restrictions on our freedom could be eliminated, but generally speaking the regulation of our lives by large organizations is necessary for the functioning of industrial-technological society. The result is a sense of powerlessness on the part of the average person. It may be, however, that formal regulations will tend increasingly to be replaced by psychological tools that make us want to do what the system requires of us. (Propaganda, educational techniques, "mental health" programs, etc.)”

—Ted Kaczynski, “Industrial Society and Its Future, paragraph 114.

The reason for the system's undying desire to maximize efficiency at the cost of human freedom is the nature of such systems themselves. The industrial-technological system, along with most other forms of systems (e.g. nations, corporations, families, etc.), are all self-propagating systems, meaning that they strive for their survival and benefit in the short-term above all else: nations demonstrate this by fighting wars to gain influence or resources. Corporations always attempt to gain a higher net gain and (if required) a higher production base. Families, although generally weak today, used to rival other families and would commonly attempt to gain wealth and power as an entity, and in some societies would abandon weak newborns. Realizing that human nature is in the way of the system's propagation, it’s a certainty it will use various means of control to regulate and eventually eliminate that.

The system acts on a large-scale, interconnected infrastructural basis, which currently requires human labor in order to function properly, placing humans in a position where they must live their lives as a part of that large-scale system, and be as productive and obedient as needed for the system to function smoothly. Instead of working for your community or family, most people are coerced directly or indirectly to work for a large institution or corporation. Kaczynski argues that the opportunity that an individual has with their life and their careers is laid down by the system and not by the individual or small-scale community, placing individuals in a situation where the entire direction of their life is determined by an overarching machine. People can only become lawyers, doctors, technicians, etc. if there is a demand for those jobs and if the individual attends schooling where they are taught to be obedient; kids are taught to sit still and speak when spoken to and are given assignments, very akin to a workplace. It is true that an individual can alter the trajectory of their life to a degree, but only by changing their mindset and behavior in a way that is either beneficial or problematic for the system; an unruly individual wishing to turn their life for the “better” needs to learn obedience, and if a “good member of society” grows distressed over the tight mold humans are made to fit, and if they outlet it in a way that negatively affects their overall productivity, then there will most likely be severe social and financial consequences. 

Seeing as it is the system's nature that requires humans to be productive and docile, while also striving for maximum efficiency at the cost of human freedom, by taking this principle, it’s inevitable that it will use certain technological advancements to do so in the not-so-distant future. The neuralink has already been invented, which can control digital devices by using the brain, but if it’s possible to use the neuralink to solve issues that are problematic for the system, it won’t stop short of doing so. It’s also predictable that genetic engineering will be one of the most effective tools for modifying human behavior in the future, which has the capability of completely altering and removing certain traits of an individual. When these advancements become a reality, human freedom and behavior will be under the complete control of the system, and most likely an elite few, rendering human society little more than that of a beehive.

Industrial Society and Its future presents the reality of the modern world clear-cut and logically, identifying the various factors which negatively impact individuals and society as a whole. Ever since the publishing of the book (1995), it has been shockingly prophetic in predicting the future, and has gained a recent upsurge of interest. All in all, Industrial Society and Its future is definitely worth a read.