2. Background:
A notorious figure who evaded police suspicion for 20
years, Theodore. J. Kaczynski (AKA The Unabomber)
constructed and sent bombs to schools, office buildings,
airports, etc. Born on May 22, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, to
Polish-American parents, Ted was the oldest son next to
his little brother named David; who later exposed him as
the Unabomber. Some people suspect red-flags in his
early childhood behavior because of how he was isolated
in hospital as a baby and felt both pressured by his
parents and excluded by his peers when he skipped
grades due to his immense mathematical intellect.
3. Trauma:
Ted was also subjected to severe verbal-abuse by a
Harvard professor conducting an unethical experiment,
which probably contributed to the making of his
Unabomber persona. Here is a Netflix reenactment of
said experiment: Manhunt: Unabomber (episode 6).
“Henry Murray’s experiment was intended to measure how
people react under stress. Murray subjected his unwitting
students, including Kaczynski, to intensive interrogation—
what Murray himself called “vehement, sweeping, and
personally abusive” attacks, assaulting his subjects’ egos and
most-cherished ideals and beliefs.” (TheAtlantic)
4. Accomplishments:
Ted was given a scholarship to Harvard University at the
age of 16 due to his performance in mathematics and
completed his undergraduate degree in 1962.
Ted got his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan after
completing his graduate studies.
In 1967, he first became an assistant professor at the
University of California then joined the Berkeley
Department of Mathematics as an instructor.
Due to his disdain for technology, he built himself a cabin in
the woods to live a primitive, survivalist lifestyle.
5. Controversies:
Ted hated technology, he wanted to bring about “a
revolution against the industrial system” by conducing
a 17-year bombing operation that killed 3 people and
wounded 23 others.
Further elaborating on his disdain, Ted wrote 8
manifestos about industrial societies and why they’re
what's wrong with this day and age.
Building these bombs in his cabin shed, Ted would
mail them to unsuspecting victims and hide in the
shadows to watch the chaos he constructed.
