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Noam Chomsky Quotes about Understanding

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We don't use the term 'working class' here because it's a taboo term. You're supposed to say 'middle class,' because it helps diminish the understanding that there's a class war going on.

We don't use the term 'working class' here because it's a taboo term. You're supposed to say 'middle class,' because it helps diminish the understanding that there's a class war going on.

Noam Chomsky
War, Class, Understanding

I think there is a good reason why the propaganda system works that way. It recognizes that the public will not support the actual policies. Therefore it is important to prevent any knowledge or understanding of them.

Noam Chomsky
Thinking, Support, Understanding
Noam Chomsky (2010). “The Chomsky Reader”, p.48, Pantheon

Those who wish to change the world should have the best possible understanding of the world, including what is revealed by the sciences, some of which they might be able to use for their purposes. That's why workers education, including science and mathematics, has commonly been a concern of left intellectuals.

Noam Chomsky
Should Have, Understanding, Wish
Source: libcom.org

You win by struggle, and that requires understanding and serious analysis of the options and the circumstances, and then you can do a lot.

Noam Chomsky
Struggle, Winning, Understanding
Source: www.iww.org

The people of the Third World need our sympathetic understanding and, much more than that, they need our help. We can provide them with a margin of survival by internal disruption in the United States. Whether they can succeed against the kind of brutality we impose on them depends in large part on what happens here.

Noam Chomsky
College, People, Understanding
Noam Chomsky (2011). “How the World Works”, p.73, Soft Skull Press

Science talks about very simple things, and asks hard questions about them. As soon as things become too complex, science can't deal with them... But it's a complicated matter: Science studies what's at the edge of understanding, and what's at the edge of understanding is usually fairly simple. And it rarely reaches human affairs. Human affairs are way too complicated.

Noam Chomsky
Simple, Understanding, Matter
"Science in the Dock". Discussion with Noam Chomsky, Lawrence Krauss & Sean M. Carroll in "Science & Technology News", chomsky.info. March 1, 2006.

One contribution scientists can and should make is to be clear and explicit about the limits of scientific understanding, a matter that is particularly important in societies where people are trained to defer to alleged experts.

Noam Chomsky
People, Understanding, Important
Source: libcom.org

People don't have knowledge and understanding about the outside world, or about history [in the USA].

Noam Chomsky
Usa, People, Understanding
Source: www.truth-out.org

Physics and those parts of other fields that grow out of physics - chemistry, the structure of big molecules - in those domains, there is a lot of progress. In many other domains, there is very little progress in developing real scientific understanding.

Noam Chomsky
Real, Understanding, Progress
Source: chomsky.info

As for geoengineering, there have been serious general critiques that I think cannot be ignored, like Clive Hamilton's, along with many positive assessments. It is not a matter for subjective judgment based on guesswork and intuition. Rather, these are matters that have to be considered seriously, relying on the best scientific understanding available, without abandoning sensible precautionary principles.

Noam Chomsky
Thinking, Assessment, Understanding
"Global Warming and the Future of Humanity: An Interview With Noam Chomsky and Graciela Chichilnisky". Interview with C.J. Polychroniou, www.truth-out.org. September 17, 2016.

We have this huge, massive information, but what is it that matters? What doesn't matter? What makes sense, what doesn't make sense? You have to have a framework for understanding and of interpretation in order to make use of the information.

Noam Chomsky
Order, Understanding, Use
Interview with Jegan Vincent de Paul, chomsky.info. August 15, 2012.

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