Tag: anti-technology

Ted Kaczynski outside his Montana cabin in 1972.

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Part 2 of 2 (Part 1 here)

Rich Houck: There’s also other parts I find a small problem with. Ted Kaczynski seems to think that without these modern technologies, people cannot be controlled or subverted or treated poorly, but it seems to me that throughout history that’s not been the case. He talked about some of these movements. He mentioned Communism and Nazism in in the same line, as mass movements, but it seems to me that even if we can imagine a society where there’s no modern technology, you could still have a group of people come that is hostile to your interests for various reasons. (more…)

Ted Kaczynski teapot by Charles Krafft

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Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)

The following is an edited transcript of the conversation between Greg Johnson and Richard Houck on the subject of Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto, Industrial Society and Its Future, that was broadcast on Counter-Currents Radio in April 2021. You can listen to the recording here.

Greg Johnson: I’m Greg Johnson. Welcome to Ted Talk. I am joined here today by Rich Houck, and we’re going to be talking about Ted Kaczynski’s Industrial Society and Its Future. Rich, welcome to the show. (more…)

Ted Kaczsynski

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Greg Johnson welcomed David Skrbina, Ph.D. to the latest broadcast of Counter-Currents Radio to talk about the life and ideas of Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. the Unabomber. Dr. Skrbina is the editor of Kaczynski’s book Technological Slavery, which includes excerpts from their correspondence, and recently penned an obituary and memoir about their relationship that was published here at Counter-Currents, “A Great Passing: Reflections on 20 Years with the Unabomber.” This is the first part; the second part of the interview is here. (more…)

Ted Kaczynski

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Theodore J. Kaczynski died at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina on June 10, 2023. He had been serving multiple life sentences, without parole, in a “Super-Max” facility in Colorado for his role in the Unabomber crimes between the late 1970s and 1995, in which he killed three people and injured 23 with mail bombs. He was 81 years old. (more…)

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Is there a warm, fuzzy feeling in your belly yet? That’s called nostalgia. It’s what you get when your glory days are behind you and all that’s left ahead are the many and grueling indignities of middle and old age. — some daft scribbler

When we talk about modernity, what often gets talked about is the alienating effect of modern technology. (more…)

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One of the lessons of 2020 is that the near future is every bit as unpredictable as the past, perhaps more so. Six months ago, no one would have predicted a replay of the disastrous Black Lives Matter stuff from the Left. Similarly, few would have predicted that the Democrat Party would have installed a dementia patient as their candidate (more…)

Giorgio de Chirico, “Les Masques”

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English original here

Z tempa technologického pokroku se nám může snadno zatočit hlava a navykli jsme si očekávat nekonečný proud rychlejších a výkonnějších zařízení. Budoucí vývoj takových technologií slibuje stále sofistikovanější stroje, které zpochybní základní premisu lidské nadřazenosti. Je vynakládáno velké úsilí na dosažení dystopické budoucnosti strojů, nadaných úžasnými schopnostmi, jejichž samotná existence možná způsobí nahrazení lidstva.  (more…)

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English original here

« L’histoire même de l’humanité tout entière est tragique. Mais le sacrilège du Faustien et son désastre surpassent tous les autres, allant au-delà de tout ce qu’Eschyle ou Shakespeare ont jamais imaginé. La créature se dresse contre son créateur. De la même façon que le microcosme Homme se révolta un jour contre la Nature, ainsi fait aujourd’hui le microcosme Machine se révoltant contre l’Homme Nordique. Le maître du Monde est en train de devenir l’esclave de la Machine qui le force – et nous force tous, que nous en soyons conscients ou pas – à en passer par où elle veut. Abattu, le triomphateur est traîné à mort par le char. » (Oswald Spengler, L’Homme et la Technique)  (more…)

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French translation here

“The history of mankind as a whole is tragic. But the sacrilege and the catastrophe of the Faustian are greater than all others, greater than anything Æschylus or Shakespeare ever imagined. The creature is rising up against its creator. As once the microcosm Man against Nature, so now the microcosm Machine is revolting against Nordic Man. The lord of the World is becoming the slave of the Machine, which is forcing him — forcing us all, whether we are aware of it or not — to follow its course. The victor, crashed, is dragged to death by the team.” — Oswald Spengler, Man and Technics  (more…)

Giorgio de Chirico, “Les Masques”

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Czech translation here

The speed of technological development can be dizzying, and it has become natural for us to expect a never-ending stream of faster, more powerful devices. The future development of such technologies promises increasingly sophisticated machines that will challenge the very notion of man’s supremacy.  (more…)

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Transcendence marks the directorial debut of Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan’s cinematographer. Nolan is also the executive producer so the expectation is that this sci-fi project could aspire to the heights reached by Nolan’s Inception. Sadly, it fails to live up to the comparison.

Johnny Depp stars as Dr. Will Caster, a leading researcher in artificial intelligence (AI). His work is opposed by a terrorist group known as RIFT (Revolutionary Independence From Technology) (more…)

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Part 4 of 4

French translation here

10. Heidegger on National Socialism

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Czech translation here

Ray Bradbury, the writer best known for his novels The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, as well as a hundreds of short stories, passed away on Tuesday, June 5 at the age of 91. With him we have lost not only one of America’s greatest writers, but also one of our last genuine writers.

However, I don’t use either of these words – genuine or writer – lightly. (more…)