• DocumentCode
    3449821
  • Title

    Industrial society as Hubbard´s pimple. Is this the Unabomber´s manifesto?

  • Author

    Robbins, Jeff

  • Author_Institution
    Ford Motor Co., Long Beach, NY, USA
  • fYear
    1996
  • fDate
    21-22 Jun 1996
  • Firstpage
    410
  • Lastpage
    418
  • Abstract
    This paper is not about the Unabomber; it is about his indictment of the entire techno-industrial enterprise as expressed in his 35,000-word “manifesto” published under threat of further mail bombings by The Washington Post in joint arrangement with The New York Times. The Unabomber´s claim is that as it grows exponentially, the industrial engine that technology drives creates the myth of empowering human life. With the exception of elites, the reality, he says, is exactly the opposite. While many, if not most, practitioners-the experts whose livelihoods and careers depend on continuing technical/industrial evolution-would acknowledge it has produced some unfortunate side-effects, environmental degradation being the most salient and recognized, the progress of technics, on balance, is a positive force. It enriches and empowers far more than it enslaves, disenfranchises and degrades. The system certainly needs guidance and tweaking-sometimes extensive-not dismantling, even if it were possible, which it is not. The Unabomber says no, the system cannot be tweaked, corrected or reformed. Out-of-Control Technics has turned into a virus that is killing its host. To get his message across, he mailed 16 bombs over a period of 17 years that resulted 3 deaths and 23 injuries. If he´s wrong, no real problem: business as usual. But, if he´s right, what if anything can be done? Can an anti-virus be found before time runs out?
  • Keywords
    socio-economic effects; weapons; Hubbard´s pimple; Out-of-Control Technics; Theodore J. Kaczynski; Unabomber´s manifesto; anti-virus; empowerment; environmental degradation; industrial society; mail bombing threats; technical evolution; techno-industrial enterprise; Cities and towns; Clocks; Companies; Degradation; Engines; Humans; Injuries; Postal services; Watches; Weapons;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • Conference_Titel
    Technology and Society Technical Expertise and Public Decisions, 1996. Proceedings., 1996 International Symposium on
  • Conference_Location
    Princeton, NJ
  • Print_ISBN
    0-7803-3345-4
  • Type

    conf

  • DOI
    10.1109/ISTAS.1996.541178
  • Filename
    541178