The world is too much with us. How not to deal with it

Photo by Valentin Salja on Unsplash

The Unabomber way of dealing (or rather not dealing) with the world never helped anyone. In fact, it hurt, hindered, maimed and killed. It led to a nationwide manhunt by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a long and expensive effort that benefitted nobody.

No, Ted Kaczynski ‘s way of dealing with sadness is not recommended. Think of all the other ways he could’ve tackled a situation he regarded as sub-optimal.

After all, Kaczynski had a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harvard and a master’s and a doctorate in the same subject from the University of Michigan. He became the youngest assistant professor in the history of the University of California at Berkeley when he was hired to teach undergraduate geometry and calculus in the fall of 1967.

He resigned two years later and conducted a 17-year campaign against industrial society and the world at large, using mail bombs to target academics, business executives and others. The Unabomber bombin…