Noam Chomsky || On Human Nature and Human Progress

Jan 14, 2021

01:10:57

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Episode notes

Today it’s great to have the legendary Noam Chomsky on the podcast. Noam is a public intellectual, linguist, and political activist. He’s the author of many influential books, including Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, and his latest book with Robert Pollin called Climate Crisis and The Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving The Planet. Chomsky is also known for helping to initiate and sustain the cognitive revolution. He’s the Laureate Professor of Linguistics at The University of Arizona and Institute Professor Emeritus at MIT.

Topics

[02:06] The cognitive revolution of the ‘50s and ‘60s

[03:49] Noam’s first encounter with behaviorism

[12:41] What it was like to be part of the cognitive revolution

[17:49] Implicit learning and artificial grammar

[26:30] Noam’s view on modern-day behavioral genetics

[28:05] Noam's thoughts on intelligence

[32:02] Noam’s take on creativity

[38:41] Chomsky's view vs. Foucault's view

[42:49] Noam’s thoughts on modern-day social justice movements

[45:50] Is there such a thing as human nature?

[49:06] Identity vs. human nature

[54:54] Noam’s views on race consciousness in America

[59:16] Why Noam thinks Trump is the worst criminal in human history

[1:00:34] How can democrats appeal to Trump supporters?

[1:03:47] Cancel culture

[1:05:10] The complexities of the slogan "defund the police"

[1:08:36] Noam reflects on his life regrets

[1:10:17] Chomsky's life advice

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