Decoding the Gurus18 Elo 2023

Noam Chomsky: Lover of linguistics, the USA... not so much

OK, so we're finally getting around to taking a chunk out of the prodigious, prolific, and venerable Noam Chomsky. Linguist, cognitive scientist, media theorist, political activist and cultural commentator, Chomsky is a doyen of the Real Left™. By which we mean, of course, those who formulated their political opinions in their undergraduate years and have seen no reason to move on since then. Yes, he looks a bit like Treebeard these days but he's still putting most of us to shame with his productivity. And given the sheer quantity of his output, across his 90 decades, it might be fair to say this is more of a nibble of his material.

A bit of a left-wing ideologue perhaps, but seriously - what a guy. This is someone who made Richard Nixon's List of Enemies, debated Michel Foucault, had a huge impact on several academic disciplines, and campaigned against the war in Vietnam & the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Blithe stereotypes of Chomsky will sometimes crash against uncomfortable facts, including that he has been a staunch defender of free speech, even for Holocaust deniers...

A full decoding of his output would likely require a dedicated podcast series, so that's not what you're gonna get here. Rather we apply our lazer-like focus and blatantly ignore most of his output to examine four interviews on linguistics, politics, and the war in Ukraine. There is some enthusiastic nodding but also a fair amount of exasperated head shaking and sighs. But what did you expect from two milquetoast liberals?

Also featuring: a discussion of the depraved sycophancy of the guru-sphere and the immunity to cringe superpower as embodied by Brian Keating, Peter Boghossian, and Bret Weinstein mega-fans.

Enjoy!

Links

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(269)

Jensen Huang, Part 2: We Have to Hurt You to Save You

Part Two of our Jensen Huang decoding gets to AI safety, where Jensen gives the labs some simple advice: if your products aren’t safe, don’t release them! There we go. Glad we got that sorted.Luckily ...

31 Loka 1h 18min

Jensen Huang, Part 1: AI Will Fix Everything (Probably)

Jensen Huang is so hot right now; not only did he make some statements that were widely derided, but he also featured in a glitzy "collab" episode with our favourite lone wolf, Lex Fridman. Sensing gu...

28 Loka 2h 2min

Supplementary Material 57: p(doom) Updates, Nazi Apologist Imbeciles, and JAQs about False Flag Conspiracies

Matt updates his p(doom), Tucker Carlson does his best impression of Wormtongue, and the political horseshoe unites over Flydubai JAQs. Sometimes our future AI overlords do not look so bad.The full ep...

14 Loka 39min

Supplementary Material 56: 10% for AI Doom, Bespoke Debates, and Eurotrash DJs

Chris and Matt grapple with Face Huggers, ponder the mysteries of algebra, and have a heated exchange over the term "bespoke".*Sorry about some of Chris' audio: the microphone settings will be fixed n...

4 Loka 26min

Candace Owens, Part 2: The Woman Who Noticed Everything

Part Two of our Candace Owens decoding offers a generous case study in conspiratorial thinking. The necklace in the footage of Charlie Kirk’s murder may have moved before his jacket, a photograph of T...

26 Syys 2h 27min

Candace Owens, Part 1: Charlie Kirk and the Cosmic Conspiracy

Candace Owens is just a Catholic, a mother, and a wife. She loves her husband, works hard, and tries not to let internet drama disturb her spiritual peace. She also has just a few questions about the ...

21 Syys 1h 42min

Gurometer Triple Threat: Professor Jiang, Mel Robbins & Jimmy Carr Patreon Preview

The rumours of the Gurometer's demise have been greatly exaggerated. We were simply collecting enough gurus to feed three into the sacred instrument at once. In this special Triple Threat edition, Pro...

14 Syys 59min

Supplementary Material 55: Nature Debates, Murder Drone Conspiracies, and Podcast Vibes

Two academic windbags attempt brief discussions of the controversy at Nature, Bret’s newest conspiracy theory, and the latest vibe sessions in Podcastistan. It goes about as well as expected.The full ...

8 Syys 34min