Noam Chomsky Quotes
Our ignorance can be divided into problems and mysteries. When we face a problem, we may not know its solution, but we have insight, increasing knowledge, and an inkling of what we are looking for. When we face a mystery, however, we can only stare in wonder and bewilderment, not knowing what an explanation would even look like.
Chomsky, Noam. Reflections on Language. Pantheon Books, 1975, p. 137.
He had been asked how to solve the housing problem of the Great Recession. Rarely do major public figures admit ignorance on a major issue. Even if they have no specific solutions, they provide general platitudes and further describe the solution. If they are politicians, they then tend to blame the opposition for the existence of the problem.
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and is the author of more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism.
