本文探讨了著名语言学家、政治学家诺姆·乔姆斯基在四个不同访谈中的观点，涵盖了语言学、政治和乌克兰战争等议题。文章还简要分析了乔姆斯基对自由言论的坚持，以及他对“大师”圈子的批判。

🤔 **语言学**：乔姆斯基在语言学方面的贡献是巨大的，他认为语言是一种普遍的认知能力，并提出了“普遍语法”理论，解释了人类语言的结构和运作机制。在访谈中，乔姆斯基深入探讨了语言的本质，并阐述了其在人类认知中的重要性。

🌎 **政治**：乔姆斯基以其左翼政治立场而闻名，他一直以来都积极参与政治活动，对各种社会问题发表自己的观点。在访谈中，乔姆斯基对当前的政治局势进行了分析，包括英国工党的现状、工会权利、人工智能的未来等，并表达了对社会公平和正义的关注。

🇺🇦 **乌克兰战争**：乔姆斯基对乌克兰战争持批判性观点，他认为西方国家在战争中的角色需要被审视，并呼吁和平解决冲突。在访谈中，乔姆斯基分析了战争的根源，并提出了一些对战争和和平的思考。

🗣️ **自由言论**：乔姆斯基一直以来都主张言论自由，即使是对那些持争议观点的人。他认为，自由言论是民主社会的重要基石，即使是那些令人反感或不认同的观点也应该得到保护。

🤯 **大师圈子**：乔姆斯基对所谓的“大师圈子”持批评态度，他认为这些人利用自己的地位和影响力，传播错误信息并误导大众。他认为，这种现象是危险的，因为它会阻碍人们对真相的理解和追求。

✊ **反思**：通过对乔姆斯基观点的分析，我们可以反思一些重要的社会问题，例如战争与和平、自由与权力、真理与谎言等。这些问题是人类社会永恒的议题，需要我们不断思考和探索。

OK, so we're finally getting around to taking a chunk out of the prodigious, prolific, and venerable Noam Chomsky. Linguist, cognitive scientist, media theorist, political activist and cultural commentator, Chomsky is a doyen of the Real Left™. By which we mean, of course, those who formulated their political opinions in their undergraduate years and have seen no reason to move on since then. Yes, he looks a bit like Treebeard these days but he's still putting most of us to shame with his productivity. And given the sheer quantity of his output, across his 90 decades, it might be fair to say this is more of a nibble of his material.

A bit of a left-wing ideologue perhaps, but seriously - what a guy. This is someone who made Richard Nixon's List of Enemies, debated Michel Foucault, had a huge impact on several academic disciplines, and campaigned against the war in Vietnam & the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Blithe stereotypes of Chomsky will sometimes crash against uncomfortable facts, including that he has been a staunch defender of free speech, even for Holocaust deniers...

A full decoding of his output would likely require a dedicated podcast series, so that's not what you're gonna get here. Rather we apply our lazer-like focus and blatantly ignore most of his output to examine four interviews on linguistics, politics, and the war in Ukraine. There is some enthusiastic nodding but also a fair amount of exasperated head shaking and sighs. But what did you expect from two milquetoast liberals?

Also featuring: a discussion of the depraved sycophancy of the guru-sphere and the immunity to cringe superpower as embodied by Brian Keating, Peter Boghossian, and Bret Weinstein mega-fans.

Enjoy!

Links

Trust Science, Not Scientists | Peter Boghossian & Brian KeatingA new Epistemic courage/humility matrixGeorge Monbiot's Correspondence with Noam Chomsky on DenialismPiers Morgan Uncensored (2023): Piers Morgan vs Noam Chomsky | The Full InterviewPolitics Joe (2023): Noam Chomsky on Keir Starmer's attack on the Labour left, the war on unions and the future of AIUpon Reflections (1989): The Concept of Language (Noam Chomsky)Jones (2020): Academic article on Chomsky's views on GenocideDaily Beast (2017): How the West Missed the Horrors of Cambodia