Unabomber, Ted Kaczynsky dies in prison

The end (maybe) of a bizarre story...
WhatInThe said:
May his victims RIP
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Yes, not sure about Ted. It is however hard to completely blame a paranoid schizophrenia for his actions. He certainly did belong under lock and key, but if the diagnosis is right he wasn't so much evil as sick. Now he may be at peace, and maybe we can all rest a bit more comfortably.
 

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"In his second year at Harvard, Kaczynski participated in a study described by author Alston Chase as a "purposely brutalizing psychological experiment" led by Harvard psychologist Henry Murray. Subjects were told they would debate personal philosophy with a fellow student and were asked to write essays detailing their personal beliefs and aspirations. The essays were given to an anonymous individual who would confront and belittle the subject in what Murray himself called "vehement, sweeping, and personally abusive" attacks, using the content of the essays as ammunition.[20] Electrodes monitored the subject's physiological reactions. These encounters were filmed, and subjects' expressions of anger and rage were later played back to them repeatedly.[20] The experiment lasted three years, with someone verbally abusing and humiliating Kaczynski each week.[21][22] Kaczynski spent 200 hours as part of the study.[23]"
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The Wikipedia article about him, quoted above, says he was bullied in high school for being smarter and much younger than the other kids. At 16 he went away to Harvard where he was used as a guinea pig for this study.

It's shocking, the things we sometimes allow anyone with a degree in education to do to our children.
 
I have heard people say there is a very thin line between genius and moron. I think Ted leaned more to the moron side. I have also heard people say the smartest people in the world have the least amount of common sense. That also fits. Then there is the old one "Being smart doesn't make you a genius."

We had a Marine recruit that was 6-10, 260# and talk about first impressions, my original thought was, "I bet this guy is a real dunce." I, of course, was wrong. Really, wrong. Very intelligent. I asked him one day why didn't he apply for ROTC or at least come in as a PLC while he was spending his time in college. He went to a 2-year college before joining the Marines. He told me , "Nope. Just want to serve my country for 4 years and get on with my life." Good enough answer for me.
 
Anyone who lives in this house is a nut.
The cabin of Ted Kaczynski (aka The Unabomber) being held in FBI storage : r/LiminalSpace
 
Been There said:
I have heard people say there is a very thin line between genius and moron. I think Ted leaned more to the moron side. I have also heard people say the smartest people in the world have the least amount of common sense. That also fits. Then there is the old one "Being smart doesn't make you a genius."

We had a Marine recruit that was 6-10, 260# and talk about first impressions, my original thought was, "I bet this guy is a real dunce." I, of course, was wrong. Really, wrong. Very intelligent. I asked him one day why didn't he apply for ROTC or at least come in as a PLC while he was spending his time in college. He went to a 2-year college before joining the Marines. He told me , "Nope. Just want to serve my country for 4 years and get on with my life." Good enough answer for me.
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You were lucky to have known that individual! He deserves respect. We could use another generation like him.
 
Right Now said:
You were lucky to have known that individual! He deserves respect. We could use another generation like him.
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I am kind of different than most of my fellow Officers in the Marines. I keep track of some of the men that have passed through my doors. If a man that passed by that I thought had real ambition and a lot of potential, I wanted to stay in touch just as a way of letting these men know that I did care about them and knew they would be successful This man happens to be one of them. He is doing well for himself owning his own software program writing business. Not married yet, but does have a fiance'.

Not all of the men that I kept tracked of turned into multi-millionaires, but many of them have done well. Most of them call me now since I have retired, so I formed a lot of friendships, which I am good with.

I am in Florida now with one of my former men and who lost most of everything last year when the hurricane came through. I felt very bad for him because he was doing well, but lost a lot in one night that I flew down and helped him get his life together again. He's got his life back in order now and doing OK. He invited me down for a month, which I told him I didn't know if I could be gone that long. I drove down because I wanted a vehicle down here and I wouldn't put my dog in the belly of the plane. No way. You don't do that to a friend.
 
Some theories include him experimenting with LSD at one point. The 1960s produced some pretty 'unique' killers and/or laid the ground work for others. Charles Manson was speculated to have used LSD. At one point some thought Kacynsky was the Zodiac killer but was ruled out.

To me bombers are like poisoners. It's a cowardly act not having to face one's victims. That's the only thing pos gang bangers seem to get right but even they wind up with a lot of collateral damage.
 
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Been There said:
I am kind of different than most of my fellow Officers in the Marines. I keep track of some of the men that have passed through my doors. If a man that passed by that I thought had real ambition and a lot of potential, I wanted to stay in touch just as a way of letting these men know that I did care about them and knew they would be successful This man happens to be one of them. He is doing well for himself owning his own software program writing business. Not married yet, but does have a fiance'.

Not all of the men that I kept tracked of turned into multi-millionaires, but many of them have done well. Most of them call me now since I have retired, so I formed a lot of friendships, which I am good with.

I am in Florida now with one of my former men and who lost most of everything last year when the hurricane came through. I felt very bad for him because he was doing well, but lost a lot in one night that I flew down and helped him get his life together again. He's got his life back in order now and doing OK. He invited me down for a month, which I told him I didn't know if I could be gone that long. I drove down because I wanted a vehicle down here and I wouldn't put my dog in the belly of the plane. No way. You don't do that to a friend.
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No comparison here to what you have done with your life, but I married an Army guy, moved to Germany at 18, lived on the economy with German families for three years, and bonded with his platoon members. Needn't say more, as you know.
I will say respectfully with conviction you are a stand up guy. And, thank you for your service. I never tire of saying that.
 
A report of a few details concerning his death was made by Associated Press:

Kaczynski, who was 81 and suffering from late-stage cancer, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. Emergency responders performed CPR and revived him before he was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead later Saturday morning, the people told the AP. They were not authorized to publicly discuss Kaczynski’s death and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

His crimes to others are finally over.
 
Kaczynski had acute schizophrenia. Symptoms of the condition would have started to manifest when he was 6-8. So being bullied in school was probably due to his illness, and not the cause. He lived in a world where delusion and fact intermingled. When most think of someone, who is insane, they conjure up a babbling idiot. Intelligence has very little to do with mental illness. He was intelligent and crazy, which made him extremely dangerous. He believed he was a fighter in a historic battle of good vs. bad- of course, this was only in his mind.
 
In most people with schizophrenia, symptoms generally don't start until the mid- to late 20s, although the far less common "early onset schizophrenia," can begin in childhood. Considering that he endured 200 hours of a "purposely brutalizing," mental torture from age 17 to age 20, it would be hard to say whether or not he had schizophrenia or had been driven into mental illness from the experiment.

I would say that Harvard University, and the psychologist conducting these tortuous experiments on young brains, hold some responsibility for the crimes he committed.
 
I can't speak for all the states, but in Pennsylvania if a prisoner went to stage 4, they were entitled to visits from hospice and to be treated with drugs to keep them comfortable. There wasn't a lot of effort to spend a lot of money on expensive cancer treatment drugs.

I remember one prisoner that had stage 4 Leukemia and it was supposed to be one of the rare forms that are aggressive. This man never looked ill and never acted ill and never died, at least for the 9 years that I knew him. I didn't get inside prisons too often, but we had a supermax prison named SCI Greene where he was located and all the really bad asses end up.
 

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