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1950s Cognitive Revolution
Dr. Chomsky worked tirelessly to revolutionalize the study of linguistics. He believed each individual was unique and based on their biology, each held a cognitive capacity for languages. His studies in the field of linguistics lead to cognitive psychology, connecting the philosophy of language and the philosophy of the mind.
Dr. Chomsky entered the political stage offering insight into U.S. foreign policy, domestic policy, and the influence of economic elitists and the intellectual culture. -
1965 The MITRE Project
Dr. Chomsky’s linguistic research was funded by the US Pentagon to support US forces in Vietnam. The US Government believed rather than using “artificial computer languages”, command and control systems used throughout the US military would be easier to use if they all understood direct English queries with a standard English structure for the simplicity of the user. This was done for US Generals who may be forced underground in times of war. Dr. Chomsky was NOT a supporter of the Vietnam War. -
Lectures on Government and Binding
In the late 1970s, Dr. Chomsky stated that children can learn languages at very young ages based on a standard theory of Aspects of the Theory of Syntax which he had developed earlier. He would go on to develop a more reasonable theoretical thought process in 1981, called the principles and parameters, or P&P, based on the idea that each child is born with a natural language and with that language in a natural structure to formulate sentences with the usage of nouns and verbs. -
1988 Kyoto Prize Laureates
Dr. Chomsky spoke in Kyoto, Japan. His lecture was focused on only the language portion of cognitive structures of study and encouraged listeners to continue to study and develop this area of interest. His lecture was translated fully into Japanese stating, “knowledge-that knowledge-how… cannot be understood in terms of ability; rather, ability to use a system of knowledge must be clearly distinguished from possession of this knowledge”. -
1990 Political Presence & World Views
Dr. Chomsky was always politically active but as the 1990s emerged, Dr. Chomsky’s political voice was loud, educated, and more important than ever. He was still an educator at MIT and became more vocal against Washington’s elitists and the US foreign policy. In his 1990/1991 article in Z Magazine, The Victors, Dr. Chomsky points out emerging threats to US national interests. He also points out US oppression put upon suffering poor countries and the obvious oversight of good human behavior. -
Thoughts on the Present and the Future
In August 2022, Lex Fridman interviewed the keen 93-year-old Dr. Chomsky to gain his political insight facing the world today and what he thinks about the future of the US and the world. The interview is a wonderful display and opportunity to observe Dr. Chomsky discuss his political and world views with topics including US-China relations, Nuclear War, the war in Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin.