Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky. Photo by Frank Barat – Wikimedia

Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky, in full Avram Noam Chomsky was born on December 7, 1928, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.).

He is an American theoretical linguist whose work from the 1950s revolutionized the field of linguistics. His work treated language as a uniquely human, biologically based cognitive capacity.

His contributions to linguistics and related fields, including cognitive psychology and the philosophies of mind and language helped initiate and sustain what came to be known as the “cognitive revolution.”

He is also known for his influence on linguistics, specifically, the development of transformational grammar. Chomsky believes that formal grammar was directly responsible for a person’s ability to understand and interpret mere utterances. His belief is that we are born with a predisposition to learn language. The essence of his theories of language acquisition state that human beings are pre-wired to learn language and in fact are born with the basic rules for language intact.

He gained a worldwide following as a political dissident for his analyses of the pernicious influence of economic elites on U.S. domestic politics, foreign policy, and intellectual culture.

1.Noam Chomsky is often termed as the controversial Jew

Noam Chomsky. Photo by Hans Peters / Anefo – Wikimedia

Chomsky was born into a middle-class Ashkenazi Jewish family.

Few  modern-day  Jews  manage  to  raise  the  ire  of  other  Jews  as  much  as Noam  Chomsky.  As  one  of  the  key  contributors  to  the  ideas  and  theories of  Cognitive  Psychology,  and  as  the  son  of Jewish  parents  who  was  raised Jewish, which Chomsky himself characterized as a “Hebraic-Jewish home,” Noam  Chomsky,  despite  his  political  and  religious  orientation  belongs  in this volume.

His work and political beliefs are of interest as explorations into some of the ways in which Chomsky’s opinions and words have been understood and misunderstood by his fellow Jews.

2.He is best known for contributing to the Cognitive revolution

Chomsky is best known for his influence on linguistics. He believes that formal grammar is directly responsible for a person’s ability to understand and interpret mere utterances.

He theorized that animals and humans were both capable of similar types of comprehension when exposed to specific linguistic information. However only humans could continue to develop those abilities through a process he called a “language acquisition device” (LAD).

Chomsky thought that if the LAD for all human languages could be discovered, it could result in features that would be universal to all tongues. This could be termed as a universal grammar. In this regard, he points to the fact that children develop a competent use of language even though they may not receive much direct teaching about how to speak.

3.An essay made him famous

Noam Chomsky. Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación Argentina – Wikimedia

Chomsky was an outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He rose to national attention for his anti-war essay “The Responsibility of Intellectuals”.

He was particularly critical of social scientists and technocrats. He argued they were providing a pseudo-scientific justification for the crimes of the state in regard to the Vietnam War.

The topic was inspired by articles of Dwight Macdonald. These were published after the Second World War and asked to what extent the German or Japanese people were responsible for the atrocities committed by their governments.

 He posed the same question to the British and American people in terms to the Vietnam War.

4.Noam Chomsky was in Nixon Enemies list

Chomsky associated with the New Left. The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues.

He was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard Nixon’s Enemies List. The master list of Nixon political opponents was a secret list compiled for President Richard Nixon.

The purpose of the list was to use the available Federal machinery to mess with their political enemies. It was a scheme used by the Internal Revenue Service to harass people on the list.

5.Interest in politics started at an early age

He wrote his first article at age 10 on the spread of fascism following the fall of Barcelona in Feb. 1939. This was during the Spanish Civil War. 

He became interested in anarchist politics after he frequented left-wing and anarchist bookstores while visiting his relatives in New York. At the age of just 12 or 13, he became fully identified with anarchist politics, as well as the “anti-Bolshevik Left.”

 Chomsky later described his discovery of anarchism as “a lucky accident”.

6.Noam Chomsky has written over 100 books

Noam Chomsky. Photo by jeanbaptisteparis – Wikimedia

Professor Noam Chomsky is widely regarded as our greatest living political thinker. Academic and activist, Chomsky is a true polymath.

Noam Chomsky is a writer who speaks truth to power. Wherever he turns his attention, his work is marked out by his clarity of vision and his impassioned commitment to truth and justice.

Anyone interested in understanding the world around them should read Chomsky. Whether you want to learn more about the political situation in the Middle East, the climate change crisis, government surveillance and drone technology, the legacy of Obama and the future with Trump, the threat of nuclear war, or the rise of China, there is no more insightful commentator.

7.He has starred in around 160 films, documentaries and T.V series

Noam Chomsky behind the scenes of the documentary, The Invisible Class. Photo by Joshua Hayes – Wikimedia

Documentaries can be gripping and engaging while simultaneously educating audiences on difficult topics.

Director Will Pascoe’s documentary opined that Chomsky’s political ideas don’t get enough circulation. It also wanted us to understand why Chomsky is still at it in his mid-70s. Why he still relentlessly tours the world, speaking and writing articles, engaging in political activism and academic research.

‘Rebel Without a Pause’ illuminates Chomsky’s intelligence and remarkable memory. He synthesizes materials others don’t have access to or don’t have time to figure out. He argues that academics have the training and the resources to analyze world events critically. That he does it so beautifully might yet inspire others to do so as well.

8.Noam Chomsky is an atheist

Chomsky is an atheist- he has no religion. He still appreciates religion and has expressed admiration for the community organizing efforts of many church groups.

In a reply to a forum query on his belief in God, he asserted that he had never heard of any reason for believing that.

He does not also believe in organized religion. His view on the Bible is that the material that constitutes the Old Testament was put together from various oral and folk traditions. And that the New Testament resulted in an effort to substantiate the authenticity of the Biblical account.

9. Has little interest in modern art and music

Noam Chomsky. Photo by Augusto Starita / Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación – Wikimedia

He is of the opinion that in the late 19^th century persons were exposed to better art and music.

He says since then art and science has lost their meanings. He views that modern artists try to sell themselves by saying that if you don’t understand music then maybe you don’t listen enough.

He says that he has taken time to listen to the music and that it has a special bent. It is however not accessible to the ordinary person who would like to listen and understand it.

10.The CIA has a file on him

The CIA had for decades monitored his activities in the 1960s and 1970s.  It had continued to deny but a revelation by The Cable disclosed that the agency had gathered records on the anti-war.

It however disclosed that the file was scrubbed from Langley’s archives, arising questions on when the files was destroyed and under what authority.

His political work has centered heavily on criticizing the actions of the United States. This is why the CIA scrutinizes him. His hope is that, by spreading awareness of the impact U.S. foreign policies have on the populations affected by them, he can sway the populations of the U.S. and other countries into opposing the policies.