My interest in posting about him today is twofold: (1) he is an extraordinary human being, and (2) he has had greater intellectual impact on me than anyone.
Chomsky basically revolutionized the field of linguistics (and the humanities) by the time he was 35. You’re likely familiar with B. F. Skinner and his behaviorism, something you encountered in a high school psychology class. Chomsky, in the late 1950s, crushed Skinner like an insect, setting the humanities upright. Chomsky argued that language was a creative process that is innate. We are born with language, and he looked to the writings of Plato and Descartes for guidance. Both Plato and Descartes argued that people are born with concepts. This is why you saw beauty in the world at a young age; no one taught you to see beauty. Likewise with geometry. You see rectangles in the bricks in the wall; your dog does not.
Chomsky has had two careers. Linguist/philosopher and political analyst. He has been a force of nature in both. Chomsky has been quite critical of US foreign policy over the decades. His approach is to apply standards evenly, which has made him relatively unpopular in the United States. Americans do not appreciate ice-cold, analytical descriptions of their own behavior.
I have read no less than a dozen of his books, and when you count articles, essays, and interviews, I’ve probably been through hundreds.
When I first got into his work, I found it puzzling. He was describing a United States that I did not recognize. And he was quoting everybody. Founding Fathers, modern heads of state, and I was thinking to myself, “I have never heard of any of this.” So, I went to the books he was quoting from. These weren’t leftist screeds written by some crackpot; they were dry, scholarly, standard histories. “Huh??” Like, if you go to Princeton to study US diplomacy, these are the books you will read. I was floored.
And I found his work to be impeccable. He’s a very careful and precise scholar. And always defends the underdog.
Yes, Chomsky is an undisputed genius. I don’t use that word lightly. However, this is the least interesting thing about him. He’s a tireless defender of human rights, he’s a workaholic, and could have cashed in and been a celebrity intellectual hanging out in the Oval Office. He chose instead to do the right thing.
I met Chomsky back in 2014. We had a nice chat in his office at MIT. They say never meet your heroes. Though I’m not sure “hero” is the right word, he did not disappoint. He was very kind, scary alert, and I had his undivided attention for the half-hour we talked. Absurdly, I did most of the talking. But that was his fault; he kept asking me questions! Now, I do not think he found me fascinating, I just think he was glad he did not have to do an interview.
He drinks a lot of coffee.
Get on YouTube, there’s maybe a thousand or so interviews and talks to watch.
A close friend of mine and I call him “Uncle Noam.” The late Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk called him that. To this face, as I understand it. It just stuck. Now we call him that. Thought you should know.
