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Noam Chomsky and the Innate Humanity in the Human Brain

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Discover | In his penetrating study of language, MIT linguist Noam Chomsky has given us a framework that is to culture what the genetic code is to life. “Noam Chomsky’s position in the history of ideas is comparable to that of Darwin or Descartes,” University College London linguist Neil Smith declared in Nature. “Chomsky has redefined our understanding of ourselves as humans.”

Chomsky’s works, most notably Syntactic Structures (1957) and Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965), presented a revolutionary approach to understanding language structure, known as generative grammar, positing that every child has the innate capacity to master language. Chomsky’s finding that language is genetically determined and part of the evolutionary process ultimately overturned the once popular notion that language comes to children through imitation and conditioning.

In addition to being a linguistic scholar, Chomsky has earned a worldwide reputation as an impassioned and informed political writer. His observations, which grew out of his opposition to the Vietnam War and, later, what he saw as the United States’ resorting to violence and other forms of coercion and domination abroad, thrust him into the spotlight and have made him one of the top pundits and gadflies of the day.

One reason for Chomsky’s enormous influence in both the “hard” and social sciences may be his willingness to share ideas and his embrace of open debate. “I don’t want any followers,” Chomsky once told an interviewer. “My message, especially to students, is that they shouldn’t be following anyone.”

An appreciation of Chomsky by Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature:

Noam Chomsky stands in the tradition of the great Enlightenment thinkers who combined a sweeping intellectual vision with meticulous technical analyses. He revived a rationalist conception of human nature in which the mind is richly endowed with creative powers at a time when behaviorism ruled and “innate” was a dirty word.

He showed that languages have an elegant mathematical structure, which set a research agenda for linguistics, psychology, and computer science for decades to come, namely, “What are the computations that allow a language to be learned and used?” And he uncovered countless intriguing phenomena of language itself. Who would have guessed that sentences as similar as “He appeared to Lisa to be brave” and “He appealed to Lisa to be brave” would have opposite meanings?

Chomsky is also a polemicist, spawning both steadfast disciples and implacable enemies. Some scholars find his theories overly abstruse and disconnected from biology. Yet despite having another life as a prolific activist, he remains, on the brink of his 80th birthday, the world’s most influential working linguist.

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2 Responses to “Noam Chomsky and the Innate Humanity in the Human Brain”

Stuart Alan Becker
Posted: Dec 5th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

I agree totally with everything in this Chomsky posting.

Noam Chomsky is one of the most important people in the history of all mankind. His own genetic endowments are vast and superior to most people. He is uniquely able to remember and apply and speak about all that he has learned and generate original arguments that stand the test of time.

After all those years of dissecting human language and getting down to the nitty gritty of what all languages have in common - giving answers that have been used in the structure of computer languages - he always snapped back to moral humanism.

Something about Chomsky’s profound understanding of just how truly remarkable every human brain is - made him humble in the face of it. That’s where his moral humanism flows from.

Killing people is so terribly wrong, if for nothing else because of the marvelous endowments we all have - how precious we all are.

And he’s right.

Vulgarities including nationalism, religiosity, greed, coercion: these are ugly aspects that would marginalize the overwhelming beauty that is humanity.

You cannot go wrong studying Chomsky. Take my word for it.

Stuart Alan Becker

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Sam Soleimany
Posted: Dec 12th, 2008 at 8:52 am

Professor Chomsky is quoted in this article as saying “I don’t want any followers”. Rather, his message is that people, especially students, shouldn’t be following anyone. Mr. Becker then comments that “you cannot go wrong studying Chomsky” and assures us to “take my word for it”. Unfortunately, his preceding comment regarding Professor Chomsky’s “own genetic endowments” as being “vast and superior to most people” is not only directly in opposition to the spirit of what Chomsky is talking about, it is also incredibly depressing.

Of course, you can go wrong studying Chomsky. Anyone can go either wrong, or right, studying anything. It is not only a matter of what we choose to study but also how we come to interpret and understand these things. Mr Becker’s ridiculous comments present a case study in just how wrong things can go. There is a strong sense of irony in worshiping as an idol one who implores others to think independently and not act as blind followers. Similarly, Mr Becker’s simple adoration of the man reduces a great mind to a mouthpiece to be revered.

This irony is not lost on me, and I hope it is not lost on the readers.

-Sam Soleimany

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