You may agree with Noam Chomsky or disagree with him, but you can not ignore him. I have been influenced by the philosopher since high school days. He is the silent revolutionary. I don’t know of any other intellectual, in modern times, to have impacted the world as Mr. Noam has done. An individual is judged by what he says and what he does. Mr. Chomsky has always done what he preaches. As being a scientist, he pursues all his topics with the same ferver, logical deductions and plethora of facts. As being an intellect, he has challanged the status quo. Noam is a hero that stood against the bullies and defended the public citizen. He wears no cape and has no super power. He is a man that uses his voice of reason with no constraints and his intellectual curiosity that is beyond bounds.

As all great minds, they go through phases. In early days, Noam created a whole field in computational linguistics (which I still have to study further). Then in 70s, he became more active in political hemisphere. His writing on Vietnam War, Neoliberalism, Class Warfare, and public democracy are considered classic works in social science and have become associated with Chomskyism (if the word can be used). Now, Chomsky acts as an arbiter or pamphleteer on global stage. He makes things simple to understand, promotes sensible policies and creates disctinction between good and bad actions. He is the Plato for the millennials. Its still too early to judge his work, but time will display the depth, influence and impact of what the professor accomplished.

Chomksy notion of three existential threat to humanity has become my world-view of the present state of our society. It states that there are three things that can destroy biological life on this planet: Global Warming, Nuclear Warfare and Neoliberal policies. Global warming or climate change has become a reality. The earths temparture is increasing, the weather is becoming unpredictable, animals are becoming extinct at a faster rate and the sea level is on the rise. This year alone I can count dozen reports in which the climate change was having devastating consequences on humanity. For example: Canada and Hawaii wildfires, Arizona’s 120 farenheit temperature, smoke and dust clouds in New York City and rain floods in the southern states. Scientist have been warning the Congress and government since 70s regarding the temperature rise due to fossil fuels usage [1]. But the political response has been slow and cumbersome to these issues. There are still climate change denialist which is a problem in itself. The next threat on the list is Nuclear Warfare, aka: Nukes. Nukes are weapons that uses the energy from splitting atoms to create explosions. These are more then explosions as the core of atom bombs can reach million of degrees. Imagine what happen to a human or living being in amid of the detonation. US is the country which created the technology in the 40s (due to the scare of Nazi Germany working on nuclear technology). Then US did a demo test on Japan Hiroshima and Nagasaki (further study is required on the lasting impact of the event). Throughout the years about 7 countries have been able to create their own nuclear weapons, with a stockpile reaching close to 13000 weapons [2]. Currently there is no sign of slowing down with the generation and distribution of such weapons. Major war lines are being drawn through out the world, such as: Russia-Ukraine war, China-Taiwan confrontation, Pak-India disputes etc. Nukes will have a devastating consequence if used by any of the countries. It is a ticking bomb indeed. The last threat on the list is neoliberal policies. This is a subtle issue which is difficult to contemplate or decipher. Essentially, Chomsky states it as a control of the working class by technocrats or the people in power. I see that America has shifted from an egalitarian society to a corporate society. Back in day, the middleclass used to be stronger, vibrant and intellectual. Now it is being shrunked and it is wrapped in the game of money. The corporation are the new rulers and have a large control on the lives of its workers. That is the reason for weaker union labours throughout the country and stringent policies. As stated, neoliberal and the concept is hard to understand but it can be seen through the lens of corporation and its autonomy to do as it pleases.

Chomsky is considered the father of modern linguistics. I have not studied his major works or theorems but I do have a high-level understanding of his ideas. Firstly, language is not learned (as mostly conceived) but it is pre-programmed in humans. It is widely believed that as a person learns to swim or write, the same mechanics are involved in language acquisition. Chomsky states that language is a form of biological endowment specific to humans. It is as if it is in our genetics to use language. A good example is a baby learning language. No one gives a baby a set of methods or grammatical rules before starting to speak. The toddler simply watches others using words and sees objects around him. He uses instinctive queues and language pattern to express himself. Naturally he learns to use words or speak a certain language. If the parents are English native, then he/she will learn the particular language. The origin of language is still debated and further research is required to understand this phenomenon [3]. Modern pundits state that origin of language is stemmed in biology. There was a need to express human thoughts and thus through trial and error, humanity stumbled on language. That can be a part of the origins but doesn’t provide complete picture. It seems the use of langauge is inifinite. As thoughts are infinite so is the usage of the language. This is known as the Galileo challange or paradox [4]. More research is required within this field.

Lastly, the attribute that I most admire about Mr. Chomsky is his unrelenting quest to always speak the truth, regardless of the group of powers and authority he is up against. This is a sign of a true hero. The person who protects and defends the weak against the bully. All Marvel Comic heroes don’t compare to the courage, valour and intellect of the modern sage. When in doubt, always ask what will Noam do in this condition? Then do the right thing.

References

[1] https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/james-hansen-testified-senate-climate-change/

[2] https://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/worldwide#:~:text=Nine%20countries%20possess%20nuclear%20weapons,is%20close%20to%2013%2C000%20weapons.

[3] https://www.santafe.edu/research/projects/the-origins-evolution-and-diversity-of-human-langu

[4] https://inference-review.com/article/the-galilean-challenge