 As a critique of technological society , the manifesto echoed contemporary critics of technology and industrialization , such as John Zerzan , Herbert Marcuse , Fredy Perlman , Jacques Ellul ( whose book The Technological Society was referenced in an 1971 essay by Kaczynski ) , Lewis Mumford , and Neil Postman . Its idea of the " disruption of the power process " similarly echoed social critics emphasizing the lack of meaningful work as a primary cause of social problems , including Lewis Mumford , Paul Goodman , and Eric Hoffer ( whom Kaczynski explicitly references ) . The general theme was also addressed by Aldous Huxley in his dystopian novel Brave New World , which Kaczynski references . The ideas of " oversocialization " and " surrogate activities " recall Freud 's Civilization and Its Discontents and his theories of rationalization and sublimation ( the latter term being used three times in the manifesto , twice in quotes , to describe surrogate activities ) . 
