Posted on 12/07/2018 8:27:25 AM PST by Borges
Cannot last too much longer.....
Cannot last too much longer.....
For a man to write about propaganda speech and how to recognized it, he sure won’t call out the BS in todays media...
His birthday is Pearl Harbor Day.
Irony: The Mark of Quality Literature.
Orwell would punch you in the face if you called him a socialist.
In Tom Wolfe’s “The Kingdom of Speech”, he discusses Chomsky’s work in the field of linguistics. Chomsky is basically regarded as the Einstein of linguistics, and much of his work stands the test of time, sort of.
For example, his theory that all human language on earth has a common thread, in that it uses recursion (I’m not smart enough to fully explain what recursion means, but it’s basically parenthetical references built into the language). For years, this theory was proven correctly, from the most obscure language in remote New Guinea to the major familiar world languages.
Then one missionary found a very remote group of South American natives who spoke a language that absolutely did not include recursion. This guy was excoriated for daring to challenge Chomsky. He wasn’t being a gadfly, he was just reporting what he observed. So the elite linguists went down there to prove him wrong. Surely he must be mistaken. Well guess what, they found zero recursion in this unique language. Chomsky was fit to be tied, and smeared this guy in academic circles.
I don’t think too highly of old Noam after reading this. Wolfe is a pretty fair author who researches everything to the hilt. Interesting deconstruction of a linguist’s theory, and the scientific method biting the dust in the service of Chomsky’s massive ego.
Only the good die young...
Sure, because nothing illustrates one's firm commitment to peace and human rights like supporting and helping to whitewash the bloody history of regimes like the Khmer Rouge.
Though the dissident intellectual has been a fierce opponent of US imperialism under both major political parties in America, in 2017 he called the Republican Party "the most dangerous organization in human history" for its consistent rejection of the science of climate change.
"Has there ever been an organization in human history that is dedicated, with such commitment, to the destruction of organized human life on Earth?”
How ironic, coming from a rabid leftist whose entire philosophy is based on rejection of science, reason and logic, who no doubt would be thrilled at some catastrophic event that causes millions of deaths.
I've heard Noam Chomsky speak; he says many words but does not convey any ideas. I think he chooses words that people interpret emotionally, even as his sentences are devoid of meaning. Not long ago, I read about a study that examined how people respond to a non-sensical sentence. The truly intelligent people immediately recognized the test sentence as nonsense. The not-so-intelligent people thought the test sentence was profound and meaningful. Based on this study and given that Chomsky typically utters meaningless strings of words, I think we can make some assumptions about the intellect of those who admire Chomsky.
Anyways, I must agree with the people who posted above who expressed disappointment that this article is not an obit. I know it is wrong to hope for someone to pass, but...
cunning: “having or showing skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion”
So, a cunning linguist
Pearl Harbor occurred on his Bar Mitzvah...
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
L
The treacle oozes from this paean.
There is no ONE common thread to all of the languages. There are distinct branches to the language tree. Proto IndoEuropean being only one. We now have super computers that may find things yet undiscovered but there are after all only so many sounds the tongue can make so there will be some incidental overlap.
Da Chump is still alive? I didn’t know that.
From the headline I thought this was going to be an obituary.
Other than that disappointment, it’s turning out to be a nice day.
The bottom line with Chomsky is he is a leftist who lies like all leftists do. The words that spew from his mouth are evidence of very shallow leftist thinking. It's not much different than his work in linguistics, shallow, stupid, and ultimately counterproductive. Despite his imminent death, the damage is done.
Have been on the polar opposite side of the spectrum from him for as long as I can remember, but I do respect the man.
If you go check, many of his insights are spot on even if his conclusions and solutions are from a leftist perspective and generally go in an ill advised direction.
Being a bit of a cynic, I also have never really been able to sort out how much of Chomsky is his real world view and how much is preaching a marketable message to a fanatical base that to who book sales has made him a very prominent, famous and wealthy socialist indeed.
At any rate, Chomsky is a free thinker who explicitly invites both his fans and his critics to read what he has to say, do their own research to come to their own independent conclusions and he is more than willing to engage in spirited debate when your conclusions diverge from his.
While I would not say he is totally intellectually honest, he does exhibit a sort of intellectual honor and civility that is sorely lacking in today's violent and un civil Left Wing Cultural Marxist Progressives
While I strongly disagree with the premise, conclusions and social remedies of Chomsky's misguided ( or, for the more cynical, the lucrative niche market Chomsky brand he he has cut out of the intellectual market place and which he markets his followers) world view, I am awed by the thought process and perspectives he uses to come to them .
His insights are brilliant and ironically, very relevant to the place we find ourselves today with our increasingly corrupt and tyrannical government.
Every Freeper owes it to him or herself to do a web search on notable Chomsky quotes and perspectives on government power.
Hillary Clinton loves this puke.
Chomsky certainly faced no "sustained criticism" from the left for "whitewashing the genocide by the communist". If he was criticized by the left at all, it was quiet and with very limited publicity.
Is this puff-piece author otherwise trying to convey the impression the international left disapproved of the genocide in Cambodia (both AKA "community organizing" and "rewriting history")?
Perfect dob for this treasonous piece of garbage.
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