12 phrases from the great thinker Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky born in 1928 in Philadelphia, is linguistics teacher at MIT, United States, and the most prominent figure in the study of 20th century linguistics.

Their contributions in the field of linguistics They have been fundamental for the development of computing. His doctoral thesis was dedicated to transformational analysis, after which he joined the teaching team at MIT.

-Noam Chomsky-

To understand “roughly” the enormous influence of this thinker, we must pay attention to his most revolutionary concept: the existence of a universal grammar, integrated into the genetic heritage of human beings.

For Chomsky, from birth there is a pattern to which the different existing languages ​​adapt. This conclusion caused his break with psychological currents such as functionalism and behaviorism. regarding the study of language.

Furthermore, Chomsky is characterized by being a prolific writer in other aspects and by his strong political activism.

To get closer to the figure of this brilliant theorist, we leave you some of his quotes and reflections exposed to the public and which contain great philosophical value.

13 fundamental phrases from Noam Chomsky

-“The basic idea that runs through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public must be marginalized. The general public is seen as nothing more than ignorant outsiders that interfere, like disoriented cattle“

-“We shouldn’t be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas”

-“Case after case, we see that conformism is the easy way, and the path to privilege and prestige; “dissidence brings personal costs.”

-“What I have always understood as the essence of anarchism is the conviction that proof of assumption of responsibility must be presented to authority, and that it (authority) must be dismantled if it cannot achieve that assumption of responsibility.”

-“Part of the reason why capitalism seems to be successful is that it has always counted with a lot of slave labor, half of the population. “What women do – outside of the working world – counts for nothing.”

-“If you do not develop a constant and living democratic culture, capable of involving the candidates, they are not going to do the things for which you voted for them. Pressing a button and then going home isn’t going to change things.“

-“The purpose of education is to show people how to learn for themselves. The other concept of education is indoctrination.”

-“The Internet provides instant access to all types of ideas, opinions, perspectives, information. Has that broadened our perspectives or narrowed them? I think both. For some it has expanded them. If you know what you’re looking for and have a reasonable sense of how to proceed, the Internet can broaden your perspectives. But “If you approach the Internet in an uninformed manner, the effect can be the opposite.”

-“Freedom without opportunities is a devilish gift and refusing to give those opportunities is criminal.”

-“The picture of the world that is presented to people don’t have the slightest relationship with realitysince the truth about every matter is buried under mountains of lies.”

-“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for the people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all”

-“Teaching should inspire students to discover for themselves, to question when they disagree, to look for alternatives, if they believe there are better ones, to review the great achievements of the past and learn them because they interest them”

-“You can no longer control people by force and, therefore, so that they do not perceive that they are living in conditions of alienation, oppression, subordination, etc. It is necessary to modify your consciousness.”