What Kind of Paradise

This novel is loosely based on the story of Ted Kaczynski (1942-2023), a mathematician and domestic terrorist with whom Adam’s story has many parallels. Kaczynski was a math prodigy born into a working-class family in Chicago, Illinois. Like Adam, he was shy and struggled socially. Even after skipping a grade, Kaczynski was ahead of his classmates academically and developed an interest in high-level mathematics while still in high school. Like Adam, he was accepted into Harvard early, where he excelled academically but failed to gain a social foothold. Unlike Adam, Kaczynski did attend graduate school, earning a master’s degree and PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan. He then taught briefly at the University of California, Berkeley before resigning without explanation.

After a short stint living back home with his parents, Kaczynski moved to a remote cabin in Montana where he hoped to live a simpler life, supporting himself by taking odd jobs and growing his own food. He was often seen at the local library reading but otherwise kept to himself. Kaczynski valued the privacy of this remote location and was chagrined when the area’s population began to rise. In 1975, Kaczynski started sabotaging industrial equipment near his cabin, starting fires and setting booby traps to discourage new development. He also began to read political philosophy and developed an anti-progress, anti-technology ideology.

In 1978, Kaczynski began a 17-year bombing campaign that would ultimately kill three people, wound 23 others, and result in his conviction and incarceration. Sixteen bombs were eventually attributed to Kaczynski, and he inscribed “FC” for “Freedom Club” on each incendiary device. He targeted professors, airplanes, and military personnel, often leaving misleading clues in his devices to fool authorities.

In 1995, Kaczynski penned a 35,000-word essay entitled “Industrial Society and the Future” that outlined his beliefs. In it, he argued that the Industrial Revolution ultimately had negative consequences for society. He claimed that life in the industrial world had become characterized by a lack of personal fulfillment and goals that aligned with the accumulation of material wealth rather than personal growth or societal cohesion. He indicted modern forms of entertainment, politics, sports, and even scientific research and activism. He warned that unchecked technological advancement would have even worse consequences for society, creating generations of individuals who are increasingly passive and dependent on the very technologies that render their lives meaningless. He argued that people need to re-learn hands-on skills and basic survivalist techniques. He critiqued American leftist ideology in particular, voicing his preference for a future in which left-wing ideology does not interfere with personal freedom or a return to nature. After a years-long search, the FBI arrested him in 1996 at his cabin. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and died in 2023.