Community & Government

Bonus: Challenging the Status Quo: Noam Linguistics

Lesson time 05:34 min

Noam Chomsky’s groundbreaking work in linguistics shines a light on the ways that language influences society and our place within it. According to Noam, it is through understanding language that we can question existing power structures and challenge the prevailing wisdom.

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Topics include: A Revolutionary Theory

Noam Chomsky

Independent Thinking and Media’s Invisible Powers

Renowned scholar, linguist, and political activist Noam Chomsky explores the dark side of media. Learn to cut through propaganda, defend against manipulation, and control what you consume.

Preview

[PEACEFUL MUSIC] NARRATOR: Noam Chomsky's instinct to challenge power and prevailing wisdom goes back decades to his work in linguistics. - Dr. Chomsky, if we do, in fact, by pursuing or expanding upon your studies, learn more about man's intelligence and how it functions, will that contribute to a better life? - It may contribute to a better understanding of what the essential needs of human beings are. And from that, it's conceivable that someday, we'll grow a concept of how a decent society ought to be organized. NARRATOR: His instinct to challenge dominant and widely-accepted theories was seated in his study of language. - Does the nature or the structure of language tell us anything about how the human mind works? - I think it tells a good deal. In fact, my own feeling is that's-- for myself, at least, that's a major interest in the study of language. NARRATOR: Though his academic journey began in linguistics, the study of language, Noam ventured into profound, uncharted intellectual waters. - Use of language is plainly a very distinctive human property. NARRATOR: Through linguistics, he began to explore what makes us human. - The fundamental property of human language, which distinguishes us from every other species, is what you and I are doing now. It's the capacity to create an unbounded number of thoughts articulated in language and to find ways to convey to others the internal workings of our mind. - And I think that by looking at the detailed structure of language, one can-- we have an almost incomparable way of gaining some insight into the specific nature of the human mind. NOAM CHOMSKY: Actually, Galileo regarded language as one of the most amazing miracles of the world. We can enable others who have no access to our minds to know their inner workings. [PEACEFUL MUSIC] - I've spoken to people who said linguistics can be defined as before and after Chomsky. Your work in linguistics obviously challenged the status quo, which would become a theme going forward. When you began studying linguistics, the prevailing thought in the field was based on behaviorism, best associated with BF Skinner. PRESENTER: This is Dr. BF Skinner, professor of psychology at Harvard. His area of particular interest is behavior. INTERVIEWER: What was Skinner's idea? - Language is, as he put it, a matter of habit and training. - Whatever the pigeon is doing when I press this switch, it will tend to do again. And in that way, I can select parts of its behavior and make it do practically anything I like. - When you carry out conditioning of an animal, you're basically slightly modifying its instinctive behavior. - We designed a little piece of apparatus in which two pigeons could play ping pong. If it goes past one page, and the other pigeon can eat. And if it goes the other way, the other pigeon eats. - So you can get pigeons to peck at balls ...

About the Instructor

Dive into the invisible powers of media with Noam Chomsky. One of the most influential thinkers of our time, he’s challenged the mainstream narratives of media, corporations, and governments—for generations. Now he’s connecting his long-standing theories to the issues we care most about today. Get his cutting insights into the powers and perils of social media, AI, and disinformation in a society set up to manipulate.

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Noam Chomsky

Renowned scholar, linguist, and political activist Noam Chomsky explores the dark side of media. Learn to cut through propaganda, defend against manipulation, and control what you consume.

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