I found it interesting how Klosterman described the Industrial Revolution as being a disaster for the human race rather than an innovation. As described in the passage, people have thrived and lived to see real things in front of them for 129,900 years. Within the last century, humans have seemed to stray away from real images and have been plugged into the virtual world. Klosterman does acknowledge that humans are intelligent enough to describe the differences between a three dimensional object to an image on a screen but we do not know how to manage it.
            Media has a way of bringing people news and information but it also has placed lasting images into our brains. For example, if I’ve never seen a Kangaroo on TV, or on the internet and then saw one in Australia, I wouldn’t be able to recognize it. When I read a book after the movie has come out I tend to imagine what is happening in the book through the eyes of the film. It ruins my imagination because now I’m picturing an image that has already been displayed on the screen. It is difficult to imagine what goes on in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars because the media has ignored it. All I can picture is a number of soldiers in desert storm uniforms marching through the desert and mountainous regions of Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s hard to imagine all the civilians in their houses hiding out of fear, people being blown up, or other scenes of bloodshed which the media tends to leave out. Media puts out what it wants people to see, and not the other way around.
            According to Klosterman, “TV takes away our freedom to have whatever thoughts we want. So do photographs, movies, and the internet. They provide us with more intellectual stimuli, but they construct a lower, harder intellectual ceiling.” People use technology as a means of escape. We alienate ourselves and then dive into these mechanical devices.
Klosterman explains that technology evolves faster than humans and is a more powerful social force than freedom. Although, infamous Unabomber Ted Kaczynski is a psychopathic murderer, his theories on technology were right. Technology is positive in the short term but negative in the long term.
            Unlike Kaczynski who moved to a cabin in the woods to live without technology, modern people do not rid their devices because they are afraid of being alone. Today, people have a hard time of thinking straight because there are so many distractions and people are constantly trying to multi-task. The Unabomber Manifesto described how people are attracted by the status quo, and obsessed with socialization. If someone does not have the newest iPhone, then they won’t fit in.
People need to learn to separate the meaningful things in life like nature, landscapes or scholarly scriptures to such things as entertainment like TV, the internet, cell phones or movies. If people started doing this then maybe we could live in a healthier society where everyone can communicate to real things that are in front of them.