Re: CHAT: Chomsky (Was Re: ALERT: Chomsky Giving a Talk on Language Creation?)

On Wednesday, January 7, 2004, at 05:41 AM, David Peterson wrote:

> Anarchist wrote:
>
> <<Isn't [Chomsky] also an anarchist? I'm an anarchist, so I've been
> wondering if he is both a linguist and an anarchist.>>
>
> I was surprised to learn that Chomsky did anything but linguistics, and
> when I found out that he was some sort of politcal icon,
Oh yes, very much so.

> I fully expected him to be as right wing as they get, based on his work
> as a linguist.  But it turns out that he's quite the
> opposite--politically, at least.  I believe (and this is just what I've
> heard) that Chomsky is not an anarchist at all, but a socialist.
Yep - a radical socialist is about it.

[snip]

> anarchist, believing that he's dangerous.  What is actually true?  I can'
> t say.  Having seen him give a linguistics talk, though, I can say that
> he's at one time a thoroughly dull orator, and, at the same time,
I've heard him only once at MIT - but that was a political talk, on East
Timor way back when
that long suffereing country was still incorparated into Indonesia. He
wasn't dull then - but
as I was in full agreement with what he was saying, maybe I was a little
biased  ;)

But I have to admit that his writings on linguistics don't exactly make
easy reading!

BTW, I strongly suspect that Chomsky's "Three factors in language design:
Background and prospects" has little or nothing to do with conlanging, but
with his 'deep structure'
ideas - but I may be entirely wrong.  Perhaps, after the 9th we shall be
more
enlightened   :)

Ray
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"A mind which thinks at its own expense will always
interfere with language."         J.G. Hamann, 1760

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