Guest Speaker: Noam Chomsky
Linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky has agreed to be our guest speaker on the forum in June.
Given his busy schedule, the format will be as follows: for those interested, questions will be submitted in this thread for several weeks, and Professor Chomsky will address them over the course of a few days in June which he has set aside specifically for this purpose.
Chomskys name comes up quite frequently here on the forum, so Im hopeful there will be a range of interesting questions for him!
[Edit: Questions do not have to be limited to philosophy.]
Given his busy schedule, the format will be as follows: for those interested, questions will be submitted in this thread for several weeks, and Professor Chomsky will address them over the course of a few days in June which he has set aside specifically for this purpose.
Chomskys name comes up quite frequently here on the forum, so Im hopeful there will be a range of interesting questions for him!
[Edit: Questions do not have to be limited to philosophy.]
Comments (64)
Damn Mikie that's a massive catch! Extraordinary.
If you give him my name, he'll know who it is. By way of reinforcement, could you ask him why he thinks Cudworth is important?
I know what he'll say, but others would benefit from reading his reply, so at least a few people become aware of his existence.
You could copy this exact post, or whatever you think is best.
Since he has written extensively about language and theories of the mind, one question that comes to mind is his perspective on the emergent properties of large language models. Despite working solely from text, these models are capable of achieving tasks beyond their intended purpose. What are his thoughts on these emergent phenomena in relation to the human mind and language? Particularly intriguing is the fact that these models can function in languages that were not directly fed to them. Could this imply that our minds also operate in a similar manner? For instance, when coma patients or individuals with brain injuries awaken and speak in another language or with a different accent, do these occurrences align with patterns observed in AI language models' emergent abilities in language?
Furthermore, I would be interested in his insights on the implications for future societies if AI systems manage to automate the majority of work, including physical labor. How would such a society function? What would be the impact on the economy and people's lives?
If current chatbot AI systems are linguistically context driven, does that mean that artificial intelligence will never get past specialisation ? Despite the ability of current AI to output respectable writing exhibiting almost human like creativity in literary forms.
Professor Chomsky, Does language exclude specific groups of people?
There is a big debate in some countries about changing the vocabulary and grammar with the aim of making it more inclusive.
For example: In Spanish, we have gender endings like "niña" and "niño", but some want to switch them to "niñe" because the ending in "e" is more inclusive and neutral.
What is your opinion regarding this issue?
In what ways do you apply your philosophical ideas as a way to dictate the way you live your life and what role do ethics play when making consumeristic choices?
Just FYI, I will be doing almost no editing beyond maybe correcting some typos or some grammar. If there comes a time when I think the question is really unclear, I'll send you a PM and see if you agree, and we can work on re-wording it, but that'll be the extent of my involvement.
Quoting Manuel
I can hardly believe it myself.
Quoting Manuel
Sounds good. Remind me: did you study under him? Is that why he'll know you?
One question only please. [I have to do so, otherwise hell be inundated.]
:blush: Glad it worked out! But I'm a little nervous -- he's 94 years old!
Quoting universeness
Good question. That hasn't been determined yet. He's especially busy right now, so we agreed on June without an exact date. I'll send him an e-mail to determine if he's ready, and give everyone here a "last call" for questions as a heads up before sending them along. I imagine that'll be in early June.
Seconded :up: :cool:
I've emailed him hundreds of times over the years (over 8 years now).
And I also got to meet him personally in MIT, just before he moved to Arizona, though I don't expect him to remember my face, obviously.
If it weren't for the exchanges I had with him, I may have not completed my own thesis. :)
I've seen him online recently. Seems to be working hard and age doesn't seem a barrier. Regardless though there's a limit to what anyone can deal with in a few days. I imagine there might end up being more questions than he can get to.
Is semantic inference of meaning proving useful in the application of current AI machine learning tools or are such attempts a misunderstanding of intelligence ? Furthermore from a purely philosophical perspective is our current obsession with linguistics and semantics that was started by Wittgenstein a regression or a progression of the western philosophical tradition?
My apologies for making this last question so long.
@Mikie
If I could only ask one question then it would be this one.
Thank you
Professor Chomsky - have any recent findings and understandings in neuroscience enhanced or modified your understanding of the innate structures in human brains which allow us to acquire language?
I think @Mikie already mentioned just one question each as it's already going to end up a lot of questions without that stipulation the way it's going.
Thank you for clarifying. In that case my last question is the one Im interested in hearing from the respectable philosopher Noam Chomsky being that linguistics has been his primary focus in the field of philosophy.
Perhaps it would be useful for some of us to watch this:
I just watched it, and Noam covers quite a few current issues in this approx 1h offering that was only posted on YouTube two days ago.
It would be great to discuss it's content with TPF members, as a build up to Noam's appearance here, as a guest speaker. A separate thread would be fine, if you think that would be a better approach.
I would like to ask Prof. Chomsky, "In his opinion, who is the most significant American philosopher alive today?"
If he's willing to answer a second question, I would also like to ask, "In his opinion, who is the most significant Russian philosopher alive today?"
I will definitely be here for his answer(s) in June.
Throughout your life, you've demonstrated a passion for linguistics, philosophy, and politics. Now that you're 94, have you decided what you want to be when you grow up?
Really? I think AI puts out derivative crap so far.
I watched a video of Bard (google chatGPT rival) produce some poetry dealing with grief loss etc and it evoked emotion in the journalist so
Kudos... MAJOR kudos to whoever set this up!
Great job!
Cannot wait!! :party:
I only wish members here do not politicize or economize the wisdom which may be revealed, substantiated, or put into question. Though perhaps such things are unavoidable these days.
If only there were more people here. @Jamal is this not a reasonably rare and substantial event to consider opening new and self-initiated registrations for new members wishing to participate?
There's not many socially-enthralled living philosophers these days.
I agree. AI is quite overrated. I asked ChatGPT to analyze a section of Luhmann's social systems theory as a reading aid and it completely Darwinized the central concept, entirely missing the point of systems autonomy. It subsequently acknowledge it was a 'significant mistake.'
Best foot forward time for Mr. Chomsky. What a coup. I thought I was dreaming when I read the post.
You have lived under the republican/democrat two party nation in the USA.
I have lived under the tory/labour two party nation in the UK.
Party politics has failed in my opinion.
People vote for a party and not a person. If you put a donkey up for election, wearing the correct rosette colour for you, then you will probably vote for it. This has allowed so many 'bad and nefarious' humans to get elected. I live in Scotland, and the people here, became so fed up with voting for a labour government but getting a tory one, that we turned to a nationalist party, as the only way out on offer.
There are 650 MP's in the UK house of commons. I would prefer them all to be voted in, as independents.
Do you think we need a new politics? Do you think it would be progressive to remove all political parties from politics and governance? Do you think 'Vote for a person, not a party,' should become the loudest political clarion call?
Do you think that the debate between theories of "innate cognitive structures" (like the "merge" function), and theories of social and cultural transmission, as represented by Michael Tomasello can be reconciled? Can the "nativist" and "empiricist" views be reconciled? Is there starting to be a consensus in the linguistic and cognitive science departments regarding these views?
You might want to focus your question a bit more. Chomsky has long described American politics as a one-party state. Dems and Reps form two wings of pro-business policy. There are no third party contenders of even remote significance.
A question I would ask you (Universeness) is whether you think the Tories and Labour are essentially the same thing.
Quoting universeness
Can we get a "new politics" with the same economic structure we have now?
Ive gone over my quota of questions but would be a fun one to ask.
Thanks for your interest BC.
Quoting BC
I understand the valid point you make. In the video I posted, Noam even describes his opinion, that within European politics, Bernie Sanders would be considered a centrist or even centre right politician. However, my question relates to Noam's opinion of ANY form of party politics, (based on the fact that I think it has utterly failed) and is not really related to any perceived common ground between different political parties.
I also don't think it's valid, to compare the common ground between the republicans and democrats to any existing one party system, such as Russia, China or North Korea etc, but if I am wrong and Noam does think that would be a valid comparison, then I am sure he will confirm that himself, if he chooses to answer my question.
Quoting BC
No I don't, at least at a fundamental level. BUT, I do agree that some in the labour party are a true shade of political blue. Thatcher's statement that Tony Blair was her greatest achievement, is a very bitter pill for me, as I think it is broadly true and I utterly despise Thatcher and everything she was and stood for.
I also think that Keir Starmer is a similar shade of blue to Tony Blair. But I think there are many on labours current front bench, such as Angela Rayner, who are true socialists.
I think the main difference between the tories and labour in the UK remains that only labour offers some hope for the majority, to gain improvement in the provision of their basic needs and rights.
The tories remain fundamentally, the lacky's of the rich.
Quoting BC
I advocate for UBI (as a stopgap system) and the eventual rejection of 'BIG' capitalism on a global, international and national scale. I advocate for the termination of the money trick. I also advocate for global unison and a resource based, currency free, economy. I think the removal of party politics would be a big step in the correct direction towards those goals. BUT, I do accept your point, that the current global economic system, makes any effort towards dismantling party politics far more difficult to get started anywhere. I never claimed it would be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is, imo.
Quoting BC
I welcome any suggestions you have on how I might 'focus' my question BC. Perhaps we could exchange on it, until we arrive at a more finely tuned 'joint' question.
Please start another thread if you want to have a discussion. This thread is solely to collect questions.
Professor Chomsky, your first political book was The Responsibility of Intellectuals published in 1967 and you have been a long time critic of US foreign policy. After over five decades participating in the public debate, how would you describe how the role of intellectuals, academic or otherwise, in the public debate and decision making? How has the public debate about foreign policy has evolved in your view?
If there is room for more discussion on this, please ask him how those values and valuables will be handled in a complete, pure and satisfactory communist structure of society that can't be distributed at will, such as good looks, sexual powers and attractiveness, personal strength, smarts and creative artistic and philosophical might?
What question would you ask any historic philosopher? Who would it be, and why? Multiple choices are allowed.
(may or may not have been inspired by the previous questioner)
[i]One way to think about 'understanding' is as a subjective experience. Whether it feels like something to be a large language model is an important question, but one we currently have no way to answer.
However, as Richard explains, another way to think about 'understanding' is as a functional matter. If you really understand an idea you're able to use it to reason and draw inferences in new situations. And that kind of understanding is observable and testable.
Richard argues that language models are developing sophisticated representations of the world which can be manipulated to draw sensible conclusions maybe not so different from what happens in the human mind.
We might feel reluctant to say a computer understands something the way that we do. But if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, we should consider that maybe we have a duck, or at least something sufficiently close to a duck it doesn't matter.[/i]
I would like to ask Professor Chomsky whether ChatGPT works in the same way as the human mind, whether it feels like something to be a Large Language Model.
Are there analytic statements? And if so, in virtue of what might they considered to be analytic?
The SEP supplement Analyticity and Chomskyan Linguistics shows evidence for what Georges Rey suggests is a vacillation on your part, supporting analyticity in some places, rejecting it in others.
Rey suggesting that perhaps analyticity resides in a framework of concept or belief rather than in our semantics. Have you some sympathy for this view?
We have had some discussion of the issue in this forum.
I, and others here, would be grateful for any light you might care to shed on this issue.
Thank you in anticipation.
"Many believe that the human is born a blank slate having no innate capabilities. As with Skinner's Behaviourism, they believe that everything is learnt from the environment, including language.
What is the best argument we can use to persuade the Behaviourist of the impossibility that everything we know has been learnt from the environment without any foundation of certain innate abilities already built into the physical structure of the brain?"
To what extent is American political dysfunction a product of structural features of a voting system which inevitably leads to a two party duopoly? Does reform, perhaps in the form of ranked choice voting, offer a ray of hope? Should more activist attention focus here?
Hello! Welcome to the forum. Many of us are very happy to have you. Given that your expertise spans many different fields of study, I expect that you'll see a vast array of questions. I'd like to focus this question on philosophy. Would you please share your view regarding the currently popular topic of consciousness? In particular, I hope to have you shed light on the so called 'Hard Problem'. I'm familiar with your view on it, but I believe that it would be beneficial to the overall philosophical community if you could explain your view regarding the 'Hard Problem' on this forum.
Thank you in advance, and for the public service(s) you've provided throughout your lifetime.
My question: How are we going to regulate Earth in a functional way?
Does that mean that Noam Chomsky will only reply to questions which have been raised so far on this particular thread? I was coming from the angle that he would have more of a live presence like David Pearce did.
I may be expecting too much from such an important figure, so it is useful for know whether he will only look at what has been raised on the thread as I am wondering whether it will be closed, and whether a new one will be started for when he engages on the site. I was hoping that the thread here would be a starting point and that questions could emerge in relation to points which he makes.
First part is correct. He will not be here live.
Quoting Jack Cummins
Questions are for this thread and hell respond to them. Im sending them along soon. So if you have one, Id put one forward within the week.
Okay, I will offer a couple of questions:
1. To what extent is humanity on the verge of totalitarianism?
2. Is AI too heavily invested in as a solution for many problems and overvalued in philosophy circles?
(How often does one see a Hall-of-Famer still hitting home runs? :smile: )
You have described the two United States political parties as two wings of the same Business Party.
QUESTION: What kind of political party reforms (along with election and campaign reforms) would temper (or at least restrain a little) the approaching reality of corporate interests (both domestic and foreign) owning or calling the shots for the US President, Congress, and Judges?
In other words Is the US government as bought and paid for as they appear to the average citizen?
If so, where to begin making any sense of it, and hope to develop a counter-plan?
Id think that this is almost certainly an unwelcome topic to those with the billions. Those in the spotlight would rather talk about absolutely anything else, and will spew defensive nonsense in response. Or blame other officials (usually their rivals) for all of the corruption.
And obviously, this a radical change down to the very roots of current government and business relations.
Thank you again, sir! :flower:
It was precisely June when he was supposed to get to the Forums questions. Just bad timing, unfortunately. Norman Finkelstein has said something similar. Theyre all being very respectful of his condition, and wont divulge anything beyond generalities like this.
Of course I very much wish him well.
Finally some info on this.
Thank you very much. :pray:
Whats gross?
What a strange comment.
Thanks for the update and hope he is feeling better.