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Many years ago I read a New Yorker profile of Chomsky. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/03/31/noam-chomsky http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/03/31/no

Many years ago I read a New Yorker profile of Chomsky. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/03/31/noam-chomsky http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/03/31/noam-chomsky I got the strong impression he has autism, or at least is on the asperger's spectrum. I think that's a real problem for his political views. Political philosophy is about how you design a good society, and that means a society in which people treat each other well. To do that you have to have a good understanding of human psychology. But people with Asperger's are very low in their psychological understanding skills. With Chomsky, I get the impression that leads him to fall into a simplistic moralism for explaining why people behave in good or bad ways.

Synaesthesia 10y ago
I think you should read more Chomsky or watch some of his talks. His political views are all based on pretty much common sense, and widely accepted moral principles. He doesn't give any simplistic moralism for explaining why people behave in good or bad ways. He acknowledges that human behaviour is very complex and poorly understood. Actually be usually avoids explaining why people act a certain way and instead just describes their actions. I do think he has a powerful analytical brain and is very dry in his descriptions, they are consciously unemotional and descriptive in nature. However he has a real deep sympathy with the sufferer of his fellow man.
abalone 10y ago
This is character assassination and has no place here. Chomsky is actually an extremely pleasant and kind person, not (detectably) autistic, and has written extensively on the topic of organizing societies where people treat each other well -- see his countless works on Anarchism and Libertarian Socialism, extraordinarily well-researched critiques of foreign and domestic policy, and even-handed application of the principle of universality in human affairs.

Synaesthesia 10y ago

I think you should read more Chomsky or watch some of his talks. His political views are all based on pretty much common sense, and widely accepted moral principles. He doesn't give any simplistic moralism for explaining why people behave in good or bad ways. He acknowledges that human behaviour is very complex and poorly understood. Actually be usually avoids explaining why people act a certain way and instead just describes their actions. I do think he has a powerful analytical brain and is very dry in his descriptions, they are consciously unemotional and descriptive in nature. However he has a real deep sympathy with the sufferer of his fellow man.

abalone 10y ago

This is character assassination and has no place here. Chomsky is actually an extremely pleasant and kind person, not (detectably) autistic, and has written extensively on the topic of organizing societies where people treat each other well -- see his countless works on Anarchism and Libertarian Socialism, extraordinarily well-researched critiques of foreign and domestic policy, and even-handed application of the principle of universality in human affairs.