5 ms·

Ask Noam Chomsky Anything (Reddit Video Interview)

22 points by floater 17y ago

jlangenauer 17y ago
Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by the questions the redditors are suggesting. A good, intelligent mix of both political and linguistics related questions.
- dirtbox 17y ago
  Indeed, I was expecting something more along the lines of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIM1_xOSro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIM1_xOSro
grandalf 17y ago
Question for Chomsky: Imagine a sci fi story in which a government creates a drug that makes people acutely aware of the nation's problems yet totally apathetic about them, reducing the risk that some awful truth will be revealed that might lead to revolution. Is the Internet this drug? Is there anything at all that you could possibly say in this interview session that would motivate a single person watching to change his/her life course to take action?
- nazgulnarsil 17y ago
  people are not aware of the actual ills of the world. unlike the average joe Chomsky has no excuse for his elementary econ 101 mistakes. he is an entertainer first, educator second.
  - cma 17y ago
    As a guess, by "elementary econ 101 mistakes" do you mean he doesn't adopt the (quite arbitrary) Ayn Rand Axiom System?
    - grandalf 17y ago
      I think Chomsky's most valuable intellectual contribution is his focus on South/Central America and the atrocities that America funds there.
      - camccann 17y ago
        From a computer science perspective, I'd at least acknowledge his contributions to the theory of formal languages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chomsky_hierarchy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chomsky_hierarchy
        grandalf 17y ago
        Certainly a valuable contribution, but I suspect someone else would have figured that out fairly soon if he hadn't. On the other hand, nobody else in the US cares about what the US does in South/Central America.
    - foldr 17y ago
      Oh please, you're going to deny that A is A?? Looter!!!!
    - nazgulnarsil 17y ago
      no, i'm talking about marginal utility and ordinal preference ranking. ?_? not really sure where you pulled the randroid insinuation from?
      - grandalf 17y ago
        Actually Chomsky and Rand share a similar view of Crony Capitalism and a corrupt regulatory state.
        nazgulnarsil 17y ago
        and rand was wrong about much as well.

22 points by floater 17y ago

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by the questions the redditors are suggesting. A good, intelligent mix of both political and linguistics related questions.

dirtbox 17y ago
Indeed, I was expecting something more along the lines of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIM1_xOSro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIM1_xOSro

grandalf 17y ago

Question for Chomsky: Imagine a sci fi story in which a government creates a drug that makes people acutely aware of the nation's problems yet totally apathetic about them, reducing the risk that some awful truth will be revealed that might lead to revolution. Is the Internet this drug? Is there anything at all that you could possibly say in this interview session that would motivate a single person watching to change his/her life course to take action?

nazgulnarsil 17y ago
people are not aware of the actual ills of the world. unlike the average joe Chomsky has no excuse for his elementary econ 101 mistakes. he is an entertainer first, educator second.
- cma 17y ago
  As a guess, by "elementary econ 101 mistakes" do you mean he doesn't adopt the (quite arbitrary) Ayn Rand Axiom System?
  - grandalf 17y ago
    I think Chomsky's most valuable intellectual contribution is his focus on South/Central America and the atrocities that America funds there.
    - camccann 17y ago
      From a computer science perspective, I'd at least acknowledge his contributions to the theory of formal languages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chomsky_hierarchy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chomsky_hierarchy
      - grandalf 17y ago
        Certainly a valuable contribution, but I suspect someone else would have figured that out fairly soon if he hadn't. On the other hand, nobody else in the US cares about what the US does in South/Central America.
  - foldr 17y ago
    Oh please, you're going to deny that A is A?? Looter!!!!
  - nazgulnarsil 17y ago
    no, i'm talking about marginal utility and ordinal preference ranking. ?_? not really sure where you pulled the randroid insinuation from?
    - grandalf 17y ago
      Actually Chomsky and Rand share a similar view of Crony Capitalism and a corrupt regulatory state.
      - nazgulnarsil 17y ago
        and rand was wrong about much as well.