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Who is this Naom Chomski? I seem to see him everywhere these days.

tehjoker 5y ago
Chomsky is a very famous leftist (an anarcho-syndicalist) that is a former MIT Institute Professor that did foundational linguistics research and also made his bones protesting the Vietnam war. He writes voluminously on topics like the manufacturing of consent for war in the media, who has power, inequality, the role of science, the role of the state and market in science, and capitalism. In recent years, he has made a big point to talk about nuclear war, climate change, and the decline of democracy -- crises that threaten the world. During the 2020 election, he said to vote blue no matter who. On the left, Norman Finkelstein, a former protegee, noted that Chomsky became known for an approach to politics and history that was very empirical at a time when many communists were very dogmatic and missed certain predictions about Maoist China. In my opinion however, Chomsky is also dogmatically anti-Marxist-Leninist to the point of caricature. I suspect that is how he retains his position in high society.
- daptaq 5y ago
  One should also note that he is usually better known for being a Linguist than a "Leftist" (also AFAIK he abandoned the Anarchist label a while ago). Any computer scientist has encountered his work if he has ever engaged with the "Chomsky Hierarchy".
  - ggm 5y ago
    Your last sentence is I think true. Your first sentence is I think demonstrably false, for all contexts except linguists and computer scientists. He's best known as a public commentator and political activist. As a public contrarian to the current world system. He's not best known for Chomsky grammar classes on tv
  - gwicks56 5y ago
    I covered quiet a bit of his work in a Language and Computation elective. I previously only knew him from his political writings. His Linguistics work left me with a deep respect for his intelligence, as well as a deep pessimism that computers would really understand language any time soon (this was 15 years ago).
  - waingake 5y ago
    He certainly hasn't abandoned the anarchist label, and is still very active in leftist circles, frequently giving interviews in these areas. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12618.Chomsky_On_Anarchism https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12618.Chomsky_On_Anarchi...
    - daptaq 5y ago
      Correct me if I am mistaken, but I heard that he used to call himself some sort of an Anarchist up until his debate with Foucault.
  - tehjoker 5y ago
    Check out the books he's written: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/2476.Noam_Chomsky https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/2476.Noam_Chomsky

Chomsky is a very famous leftist (an anarcho-syndicalist) that is a former MIT Institute Professor that did foundational linguistics research and also made his bones protesting the Vietnam war. He writes voluminously on topics like the manufacturing of consent for war in the media, who has power, inequality, the role of science, the role of the state and market in science, and capitalism. In recent years, he has made a big point to talk about nuclear war, climate change, and the decline of democracy -- crises that threaten the world. During the 2020 election, he said to vote blue no matter who. On the left, Norman Finkelstein, a former protegee, noted that Chomsky became known for an approach to politics and history that was very empirical at a time when many communists were very dogmatic and missed certain predictions about Maoist China. In my opinion however, Chomsky is also dogmatically anti-Marxist-Leninist to the point of caricature. I suspect that is how he retains his position in high society.

daptaq 5y ago
One should also note that he is usually better known for being a Linguist than a "Leftist" (also AFAIK he abandoned the Anarchist label a while ago). Any computer scientist has encountered his work if he has ever engaged with the "Chomsky Hierarchy".
- ggm 5y ago
  Your last sentence is I think true. Your first sentence is I think demonstrably false, for all contexts except linguists and computer scientists. He's best known as a public commentator and political activist. As a public contrarian to the current world system. He's not best known for Chomsky grammar classes on tv
- gwicks56 5y ago
  I covered quiet a bit of his work in a Language and Computation elective. I previously only knew him from his political writings. His Linguistics work left me with a deep respect for his intelligence, as well as a deep pessimism that computers would really understand language any time soon (this was 15 years ago).
- waingake 5y ago
  He certainly hasn't abandoned the anarchist label, and is still very active in leftist circles, frequently giving interviews in these areas. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12618.Chomsky_On_Anarchism https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12618.Chomsky_On_Anarchi...
  - daptaq 5y ago
    Correct me if I am mistaken, but I heard that he used to call himself some sort of an Anarchist up until his debate with Foucault.
- tehjoker 5y ago
  Check out the books he's written: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/2476.Noam_Chomsky https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/2476.Noam_Chomsky