USA's Leading Dissident Voice | Noam Chomsky | Talks at Google

For the past forty years Noam Chomsky's writings on politics and language have established him as a preeminent public intellectual and as one of the most original and wide-ranging political and social critics of our time. Among the seminal figures in linguistic theory over the past century, since the 1960s Chomsky has also secured a place as perhaps the leading dissident voice in the United States.
In this talk from Google Cambridge in May of 2017 Professor Chomsky discusses wide ranging topics from the development of his personal political views to the control of information and media with Googler Hasan Khalil.

[@spiritfractal]

Interviewer: "What can google do about fake news?" Chomsky: "Not contribute to it" Ouch....

[@brandinshaeffer8970]

I literally spit soda out of my mouth when he said that. This poor interviewer is so out-classed intellectually, I feel bad for him.

[@golemkonty]

@@brandinshaeffer8970 Hahaha, where he said that? Cause I cant find it, I dont want to listen to yet another of his lectures, the dude can create a sentence of one hour when they ask him for the simple answer, hahahaha!

[@mck1972]

Yes Chomsky sure does know, ' fake news '; just look at all the nonsense contained in Chomsky's own books & lectures all these years! Smh

[@tijuanaforeplay8232]

@@mck1972 We got a FOX News sub here folks. Hey maybe you should go back and read manufacturing consent.

[@mck1972]

@@tijuanaforeplay8232 , (SIGH) You know what happens when you ASSUME-Right? I NEVER said I was a fan of Fox News! And I actually HAVE read, ' Manufacturing Consent ', which, in reality, is ITSELF a perfect example of Fake News! Smh

[@DL-gx5cr]

Mind blown: Noam Chomsky speaks at Google about how they ought not exist, and every point he makes is over the head of the audience. Pure gold. That end of the interview was a mic drop, gut-splitting laughter on my end. Uncomfortable laughter among the KoolAid-drinkers in the audience.

[@generalfishcake]

Noam doesn't just remember the past, he puts everything into context. I can't stress how important this is - we lose context from one day to another, but he remembers it throughout almost a century!

[@derektomlinson6514]

He sucked and still does.

[@generalfishcake]

And that there, Derek, is called "shitposting".

[@edebs6243]

I appreciate much of what Chomsky talks about here. I have heard valid criticisms of some of his positions. But he does often speak truth to power. There's a piece that was posted in 2016 titled _'The Mainstream and the Margins: Noam Chomsky Vs Michael Parenti'_ if you haven't already seen it. It is a relatively long read, but it's broken into six parts. And there is really quite a lot of information regarding both Chomsky and Partenti that is invaluable to anyone who appreciates either Chomsky or Parenti (or both.) In my humble opinion it presents extensive insight into both of them (and their work) that I found to be invaluable for anyone sincerely committed to understanding/grasping our history and reality. I thought it was definitely worth a bookmark: lorenzoae.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/chomsky-vs-parenti/

[@mck1972]

Chomsky's ability to retain & recite facts is certainly impressive. BUT-Let's remember that Chomsky has the great luxury of Hindsight-Hindsight which those whom he presumes to judge did NOT have at the time...

[@aintnuthinbutathang1646]

@@generalfishcake folks like our homeboy Derek here who shitpost on Chomsky videos are always thoughtless turds, they never actually critique Chomsky's arguments.

[@basednpc]

Interviewer: "Do you have anything that you would like to ask US?" Chomsky: "Why not do some of the serious things?" *Apply water to burnt area*

[@Mikey-lj2kq]

indeed, most of the commenters don't have the brains of a googler, and don't have the commitments, knowledge, and achievement of chomsky. i mean we all are free to comment, but you know, it's more getting it outta ya and less getting it into someone else's brain. so, perhaps chomsky's last advise is indeed useful to many people, we all should do something more useful. (not some die-hard fan of chomsky, i mean, alpha0 plays general game of chess (&go&shogi) in an entirely different way conjectured by him couple of yrs ago. and he himself would probably want us to think critically rather than blindly following ideas, even his own ones.)

[@theguywhorarelylies5454]

Yea boy that is fire!

[@christopher480]

yourself included @@Mikey-lj2kq

[@sebeng4711]

@Filthy N'Wah pouring cold water on a burn is the first thing that should be done before burn dressings, skin grafts, etc. don't talk shit about medicine when you know nothing.

[@ShiningEyeBrigade]

‘Hold burned skin under cool (not cold) running water or immerse in cool water until pain subsides.’

[@akbarrauf2741]

if only he could live another 50 years

[@terrymackamckenzie6865]

Romper Chomper is still sharp as a tack. If only, we need him more now than ever.

[@freydenker6335]

absolutely. Progressive greetings from Germany..

[@terrymackamckenzie6865]

Hallo German friend. Australians admire your country a lot.

[@mariaangelova8275]

akbar rauf or 100!!!

[@akbarrauf2741]

amen to that

[@zahrans]

Jeez Google. One of the most brilliant men around and THIS is the best interviewer you could have come up with?

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

By design.

[@Elisa-mg3rc]

I was wondering the same thing :D Also the guy who introduced him, spoke three sentences and had to read on the mobile...

[@streb6]

Absolutely shocked or not perhaps ?

[@thankyoumrminer7025]

YNWA!!!

[@pt17171]

'I'm a software engineer, I have nothing to do with linguistics' - Said without irony.

[@classiqueliberal8576]

Actually, he very clearly said it with irony. That is why the audience laughed.

[@moazim1993]

Classique Liberal I think the joke was the admission of being unqualified

[@barryb.3947]

Doubt Chomsky would acknowledge any relationship between the two fields.

[@Will_Moffett]

Irony or no, it reflects an attitude I've often seen from Google employees who seem to dismiss all conventional knowledge as if they can (and should) reinvent everything. What happens (every single time) is that they try to reinvent the wheel, get halfway there, then look back and find that actually the wheel is already invented. This guy doesn't have to know any of the material he is supposed to be questioning about. He's just inherently superior without fluency or familiarity because he spent elementary through high school drilling for the SATs.

[@MassDefibrillator]

@@barryb.3947 You should look up the chomsky hierarchy if you believe that.

[@bizzyb7th]

20:05 Chomsky: The working class, the rising working class, had its own institutions of education and culture, which was significant; a lot of that has been destroyed- in all kinds of ways. Google doesn’t help. Google Interviewer: Happy to do our part.

[@Armon1990]

I knew someone else had to notice that part! Guy shielded himself with a simple joke :/

[@caballosinnombre3981]

yeh- his only defense was a nervous reaction and thoughtless and glib remark

[@jamesanderson2572]

I'm so high and can't figure out what this comment means haha, it it sarcastic?

[@jeffreybrunner8310]

His flip reply sounded both defensive--"I know we're part of the problem, but please don't point it out"--and offensive--"Hey, don't fuck with us; we're on top, we're immune, and we're cool; just look at what I'm wearing!" Also, can we talk about the background noise. It's like doors opening and closing, rustling sounds, people moving around, and the interviewer looking over Chomsky's shoulder. So disrespectful.

[@unity20000]

@@caballosinnombre3981 Yeah, he should have stood up and gone into a teary declaration about how he is right and Google should change its ways and the establishment should just fold. Because, that would work.

[@christianholley7236]

It is sadly evident throughout most of this video that the interviewer has absolutely no idea what Chomsky is talking about.

[@mck1972]

" It is sadly evident throughout most of this video that the interviewer has absolutely no idea what Chomsky is talking about. " Then both the interviewer and Chomsky are in the same boat...smh

[@EXPONENTIAL-ik8uz]

CHOMSKY IS SUCH A CONVOLUTED OBSCURANTIST, THAT CHOMSKY HAS NO IDEA WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT HIMSELF! ENOUGH OF THIS OBSCENE HAGIOGRAPHY!

[@brandinshaeffer8970]

@@mck1972 oh yeah...chomsky is a real intellectual lightweight. lol.

[@mck1972]

@@brandinshaeffer8970 , You're missing the point here: The SMARTER that Chomsky is, then WORSE Chomsky looks for spending his entire life merely criticizing everyone else from the sidelines!

[@thomiashenderson4475]

M CK I don’t understand your point. Unfortunately, since power isn’t a contest for truth or intelligence, the intelligent aren’t automatically empowered. Chomsky is doing everything he can within his power, but he doesn’t get much since nobody’s listening. Fox news, CNN, major news networks and other ways people receive information pretend he doesn’t exist. His chances for political power is zero for obvious reasons. [70 years of soundbites to push in a media against him as well as “radical” left of center ideas (e.g Authority has to prove it’s legitimacy to exist)]

[@vaduel250]

19:34 very telling editpoint, Noam was about to talk about wage slavery.

[@thomase13]

I noticed a number of those!

[@riley5771]

Wooooooow, you’re right. That “selling yourself” line they cut to is part of his usual wage slavery bit. Fuck Google.

[@riley5771]

From another Chomsky interview: “Just think of the forms of authority and domination that exist in our societies. One of the dominant ones is wage labor. If you go back to the early days of the industrial revolution, in England and the US and other countries, people who were being driven into the industrial system bitterly condemned it. In the US in the mid-19th century, when the industrial revolution was beginning, working people described wage labor as equivalent to slavery. The only difference was that wage labor was temporary, whereas slavery was permanent. Actually that was such a widespread idea that it was a slogan of the Republican Party. Abraham Lincoln accepted it. When Northern workers went to war in the Civil War, that was one of their slogans. [They wanted] to eliminate chattel slavery-you know, literal slavery-and what they called wage slavery. No influence of Marx or European radicalism-this just came straight out of the popular understanding of free, independent people who felt their rights were being taken away by being forced into a system where they have to sell themselves to survive.” Google employs many people as contractors. It's pretty obvious why they'd censor this. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5zZgXeuZ9aBoK8

[@AnandKulkarniPlusOne]

Totally. Noam once mentioned how the nyt and WaPo chose not to publish Arafat's peace gestures to Israel - because they know they aren't just reporting news, they're 'preserving history' for future academics.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

@stop immigration : Have you ever considered exactly who profits from driving our wages down? People like trump, and other billionaires so obviously profit, whereas immigrants are just trying to survive. Also, the amount of immigrants even under the Obama administration was a tiny drop in the bucket of this problem. Far far more substantial is the fact that conservative backed corporations take all the jobs overseas. Immigrants for the most part just do the jobs that Americans consider beneath them. You know, they are trying to just live and feed their family. How is that so wrong comparatively? Btw if you are not full blooded American Indian, *you are an immigrant.* This is an indisputable fact. But even then, literally anyone outside of Africa is an immigrant and that has been proven both archeologically, and by DNA testing. This is no longer just another hypothesis or simple-minded assumption like monotheism for instance. Also the conservative party is largely responsible for driving down wages by doing their level best to destroy labor unions, witch aaare obviously something the wealthy elite are dead set against, because it puts more of the money back into the hands of the people, their workers. Yet the greed is still not satiated. No, they still move the jobs overseas after destroying our living wage (witch is also slavery) by destroying the labor unions. So you see, as a wage slave you are worth exactly *nothing* to them. Now I'm bagging on the conservatives yes, but most of the democratic politicians are also conservatives, and secretly support the *more openly hostile policies* of the republican party. Either way, you are a wage slave and they don't give a flying rat's sphincter about you. Sadly this leaves us all with two choices, at least when it comes to presidential elections in particular: 1) Vote for those who secretly care nothing for us. 2) Vote for those who openly care nothing for us. While one may *seem* more honest, consider this analogy: would you rather live in a city where murder is openly condoned, or one where it is secretly condoned? Because if murder is openly condoned, there will so obviously be many more murders committed. I was debating politics earlier with some always-trumpers and one said, and rightfully so I might add: _"Sleepy Joe won't save America."_ No, _Sleepy Joe_ won't save America. Joe Biden is just another conservative democrat obviously. *But,* voting for Joe Biden absolutely 100% *will* save America from trump's fascism and wanna be dictatorship. That is simply an obvious and easily demonstrable fact: remove trump, and you remove his outward fascism and wannabe dictatorship. It could not be any more simple. But I leave people with a warning: trump is a symptom, not the disease. Racism (and it's accompanying conspiracy hypotheses) are *the delusions that got trump elected.*

[@SamCosentino]

What a brilliant, knowledgeable and moral man! How much good would result if the entire world could just listen to him for a few hours!

[@kadellagroove]

I've watched probably upwards of 50 hours of Chomsky interviews. This one is one of the mor interesting ones because of the diametric characteristics between Noam and this interviewer. Noam - old sweater and jeans. - Hyper intellect - no BS attitude - freely calling out advertising, problems with capitalism, and companies like google for not advancing the important work... that joke at the end he made about "how about you do some of the serious work" lol. The interviewer on the other hand - young well dressed sharp guy - tried to use humor a couple of times (poorly) to shrug off Noam's criticisms of things that made him uncomfortable (like advertising). - Clearly smart but also very clearly not keeping up with Noam a few times - and you could see if Noam explained how he was wrong about something (like monetized media) he got a bit uncomfortable. Im not coming down on the interviewer... I just think he happens to be a great example of the intelligent folks of the younger generations. There are gaps there... times when their knack for data processing and coding leave a void in more broader and humanistic intellect. At least thats what I took from this one.

[@riccardo9383]

stuart If you want to see more talks/interviews by Noam Chomsky i have over 300 videos of him on my channel If you want to check It out. He is indeed the greatest intellectual heavyweight and has been for a long time.

[@MattSingh1]

Christopher Hitchens on Chomsky: 'My quarrel with Chomsky goes back to the Balkan wars of the 1990s, where he more or less openly represented the "Serbian Socialist Party" (actually the national-socialist and expansionist dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic) as the victim. Many of us are proud of having helped organize to prevent the slaughter and deportation of Europe's oldest and largest and most tolerant Muslim minority, in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Kosovo. But at that time, when they were real, Chomsky wasn't apparently interested in Muslim grievances. He only became a voice for that when the Taliban and Al Qaeda needed to be represented in their turn as the victims of a "silent genocide" in Afghanistan. Let me put it like this, if a supposed scholar takes the Christian-Orthodox side when it is the aggressor, and then switches to taking the "Muslim" side when Muslims commit mass murder, I think that there is something very nasty going on. And yes, I don't think it is exaggerated to describe that nastiness as "anti-American" when the power that stops and punishes both aggressions is the United States … In some awful way, his regard for the underdog has mutated into support for mad dogs. This is not at all like watching the implosion of an obvious huckster and jerk like Michael Moore, who would have made a perfectly good Brownshirt populist. The collapse of Chomsky feels to me more like tragedy.'

[@TheWatsonGreen]

But Christopher Hitchens is a fuck wit moron.. And both sides were culpable for immense brutality and wrongdoing in that conflict - US should not have taken sides.

[@TheWatsonGreen]

Any intellectually honest discussion of the Bosnian conflict does not paint it as a purely black and white war. I don't believe I advocated appeasement anywhere, but it does not appear I'm going to have any meaningful discussion of this with you based on your language so I will not waste my time. Perhaps you'd like to go re-read one of Hitchens' sexist/bigoted articles again, like "Why women aren't funny", and reinforce your shitty world view further.

[@MattSingh1]

'Any intellectually honest discussion of the Bosnian conflict does not paint it as a purely black and white war. I don't believe I advocated appeasement anywhere' So, I guess 3,000 butchered Muslim men and boys is a shade of grey, right? Utterly babbling immoral nonsense. 'but it does not appear I'm going to have any meaningful discussion of this with you based on your language so I will not waste my time.' Sure, I bet you're a big advocate of the dialectic. Don't waste my time with this faux high-minded garbage. 'Perhaps you'd like to go re-read one of Hitchens' sexist/bigoted articles again, like "Why women aren't funny", and reinforce your shitty world view further.' You obviously haven't read or understood that article, nor any of Hitchens' work. What a precious, ignorant snowflake you are.

[@userdavidm]

next on google talks: Steven hawking, the acclaimed scientist will be interviewed by kim Kardashian

[@julieseely]

yesss. Your comment is gold.

[@mck1972]

@@julieseely , At least KK does not pretend to know what she's talking about-So in that respect she is way ahead of Chomsky. Smh

[@colaturkalures]

@@mck1972 fuck off shill, you've been found out

[@mck1972]

@@colaturkalures , Don't Shoot the Messenger if you yourself can't face the reality of the Message...

[@colaturkalures]

@@mck1972 You live in an alternate reality propped up by alt right talking heads.

[@armanmkhitaryan27]

The last question I think put a bold period in this discussion: Interviewer: ... our software engineers and our advertisement experts and our, you know, market experts from different fields - do you have anything that you would like to ask US? Chomsky: Why not do some of the serious things?

[@bianconerocatracho909]

The interviewer was evidently lost. Chomsky was talking about how advertisement is being done all wrong, and the interviewer then tried to impress him by telling him he had a room full of advertisement experts.

[@MiamiViceNarc]

Noam Chomsky being interviewed by a rock

[@thanksforbeingausefulidiot9016]

Chomsky rightly criticized Google at least twice and in both cases it went in one ear and out the other.

[@bizzyb7th]

20:05 Chomsky: The working class, the rising working class, had its own institutions of education and culture, which was significant; a lot of that has been destroyed- in all kinds of ways. Google doesn’t help. Google Interviewer: Happy to do our part.

[@mattd8725]

It's like this interviewer genuinely didn't expect that this leftist Chomsky wouldn't support Chinese style censorship and control of the internet. Yeah, offend the advertisers, go back to bed grandpa! We only want to do sensible things like block unapproved information.

[@mck1972]

Yes we are fortunate to have Chomsky to denounce Capitalism! It's not like Chomsky himself SELLS his books for a PROFIT, and makes a SALARY as a Professor at MIT, which charges TUITION to Students-Right??? -Hey, Wait a Minute...

[@christopher480]

Matt D wow you must have been watching a different interview then the rest of us....He didnt say anything about supporting Chinese style censorship. And sure why not offend the advertisers...its about time we offended them for a change instead of the other way around.

[@christopher480]

@@mck1972 wow you area freaking idiot......Like the rest of us Chomsky has to live in a capitalist society....So he needs money. That doesnt mean he is supporting it or being a hypocrite because he's trying to get by in a society that he didnt create. Did you think he should stay dirt poor and not send his own kids to good schools or try to give the a good life.

[@ingridmason9631]

Chomsky, my hero. Google listen to him. Thanks for bringing this great thinker to expand my little world. Love you Mr Chomsky.

[@KIDWITDEGUN]

If you want some new challenges I suggest Jordan Peterson, Stefan Molyneux, Stephen Corbett, Dave McGowan, Gavin McInnes.

[@TheXitone]

Stefan Molyneux,Gavin McInnes.? i take it the others are right-wing white male pricks too?

[@yurona5155]

Good guess. The only one with an IQ above room temperature on that list is Jordan Peterson, who makes a living off of preaching to sexually inept white guys and being confused about epistemology.

[@yurona5155]

Nope, Peterson is a protestant (which btw - more or less directly - accounts for some of these public filings for intellectual bankruptcy he loves to put out on KZbin).

[@KIDWITDEGUN]

Well, I can tell you this: all these "right wing white males" get more views in an hour than Chomsky gets in a day. And they do not have the support of Google. I do not even share their oppinion on everything. But I sure am curious about how long you will be able to afford avoiding them. Good luck!

[@AaronB99999]

Good lord, take two minutes to learn enough about your guest to introduce him by memory rather than reading it off of your phone.

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

Or just know who Chomsky is from memory because he's probably the most famous public intellectual still alive.

[@asad2918]

I wish we had some way of preserving Chomsky’s consciousness so he could keep spittin straight fax forever

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

The best we can do is to let him continue to live in parts of each of us. This is how wisdom was passed on to him as well.

[@asad2918]

Aylbdr Madison very true. That makes me feel a bit better actually

[@FartMeltonProductions]

yknow hes still alive...

[@thejfoshow1320]

@@FartMeltonProductions he’s going to be the oldest living man

[@mck1972]

Knowledge is not the same as Wisdom.

[@NexusDoug]

Chomsky literally took a dump on the interviewer and the crowd, emblematized by his final question to them: Why not do some of the serious things? He's right and he knows it; when he was talking about the duality of scientific progress and technology, comparing the "brute force" uses of technology to a higher dimension of scientific progress that somehow questions our ontological foundation and leads to some semblance of explanations for the mess we are in -- some explanation or discovery and can help us make things better.

[@danvol3835]

I agree. The fact is that Google is not a scientific organization, but an engineering firm. Two completely different things.

[@Syncopator]

Unfortunately, like most corporations, their definition of "the serious things" rests on how much money they make from them, not on what effect they have on society or human survival.

[@judyg5972]

@@danvol3835 literally? really? ugh, not a pretty sight.

[@joelilao2592]

Prof Noam’s memory is amazing. At one point in the interview, I thought he really forgot the rest of what he was quoting but that’s exactly what the quote is. From another source: ‘Senator Mark Hanna said in 1895: "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money and I can't remember what the second one is."’

[@robsmithadventures1537]

Love Noam. It's like going to a party and telling the host the party sucks.

[@wi2fi]

Thank you google for democratically choosing your guests. This man is one of the most important men alive, but likely even more important in the future. And he is not invited to mainstream media anymore.

[@samanthataylor1761]

I could listen to this man speak all day. I would listen to him speak about anything! Literally a living legend.

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Try Homer Simpson instead ? He's probably more useful !

[@samanthataylor1761]

@@2msvalkyrie529 😂😂 that tells me a lot about your level of intellect. I’m good bro.

[@thegreatreverendx]

The best way to improve this talk is to prevent the interviewer from saying anything at all.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

To be fair, getting an interviewer in the first place would have been the wiser choice. This guy certainly is not one.

[@armanmkhitaryan27]

43:54 "The change from no libraries to libraries was a much bigger change than from libraries to the Internet." I have to agree with both hands; most of the time when I'm talking with my friends on such topics like politics, economy, human rights, my friends, who spend much more time watching TV shows, series and sports, are having a hard time with following some of the most basic principles. Most don't know or know very very vaguely, what liberalism is, neoliberalism is, social democracy, universal human rights, basics of economics and etc., but can tell you tens of episodes of The Games of Thrones and X-Files and blah blah :)

[@riccardo9383]

w0g How so? In the internet you have ton of useless stuff which are not relevant to the topic you want to study and learn about. In a library you go to the philosophy sector and read Locke, Humboldt, Rousseau, Aristotle and many of the great thinkers in human history. You read their works and adaptations and learn much more in an afternoon at the library than you would ever do elsewhere.

[@armanmkhitaryan27]

True. The Internet is a very powerful tool to knowledge, human interaction on the one hand, and as Ricardo says tons of irrelevant and oftentimes BS material. What I think we shouldn't forget is that it shouldn't monopolize people's self-edication process, it's there to help the books not to replace them the way I see it. I'm not going to blame the Internet for everything, I just think - and that's what Chomsky's telling in the video - the role of the internet seems to be overestimated. But, sure, as you said, it's really great how quickly we can exchange our ideas - so let's take the best of both world :)

[@UnderscoreZeroLP]

oh god oh fuck how i wish i were an intellectual like you

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

@w0g : The internet is filled with misinformation. In particular in youtube one could even say there is more misinformation. Regardless, because of the massive amount of misinformation, saying we are still in the _Information Age_ is a misnomer. This is now the _Misinformation Age._ Due to the internet (as with all things) being used as a weapon. Fact checking is out best defense. But about literacy.. The average college graduate now has the linguistic literacy level as an average elementary school graduate in the 70's. This is because the conservative party has been aggressively dismantling our public school system sine the reagan era. This is not the fault of the students certainly, nor is it the fault of teachers (who have likewise suffered). Now, the important part of that to consider is that *all higher learning* is based on linguistic literacy. This is exactly why Noam knows so much about so many varied subjects. Reading comprehension is far more important than simply remembering the words. That's why someone like Noam Chomsky is wise, while someone like ben shapiro who seems to have a good memory, just tosses facts around that when examined together do not form any actual logical thought processes and are exposed for simply being random distractions from the current subject matter.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

@Vagus Nervus : That vagus nerve is a serious situation for some of us. One of my cousins and myself both have had troubles with it. If you're having issues from it as well, I wish you good health and safety. ^-^

[@CR-ul6nx]

20:40 Chomsky: -a lot of that knowledge and history is gone now and Google does not help, Googleman answers: -...happy to do our part!

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

That said everything one needs to know about google. I've been using DuckDuckGo for years now. Sure it's less search results, but the more who move away from google, the less is googles stranglehold over all of humanity.

[@maratkopytjuk3490]

Great talk, I would appreciate the interviewer to run a discussion and not just asking questions which have nothing in common to previous words of Chomsky

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Noam is genius how he responds though. He didn't let the googlee off the hook at all. I love that, lols.

[@penjorebhutia2815]

This talk felt more like a job interview than an intellectual conversation with a figure of global standing. Well, it's Google, there you are.

[@valdeswright8069]

Is this interviewer really the best Google can do? An actual pizzeria tablecloth could have listened more genuinely, and asked more relevant questions. Mr. Chomsky is not only profoundly informed he is also endlessly patient.

[@colonelmotorov5854]

Pretty decent interview. I don't know what problem with interviewers do you fans have under almost every Chomsky video.

[@ruthdenova5984]

Professor Noam Chomsky a universal intellectual, a legend and my brother, who professes the truth to the people of the mind, who gives vision to others to know the reality of the evil powers of evil politicians and their accomplices and their evil avarice for world domination and the killing of countless helpless humans. All my respects and my profound gratitude to you Sir Noam Chomsky.

[@robertnicholls9917]

Google please interview Chomsky again. The subject of AI was a great point to explore further. Give Chomsky the respect he deserves. Sergey Brin or Larry Page should be talking to him. These are interesting times and we need more thorough conversations like this. Give Chomsky the correct platform.

[@christophercalnan7372]

Google meets with one of the greatest minds in the nation and what does it do? It asks him ... to tell a joke.

[@theonlygoodlookinghabsburg2081]

That was cringe af.

[@awareness123]

Basically telling him that everything is alright by googles measure.

[@rvtelecaster]

53:03 Chomsky's analysis of the 'perfect storm' mankind created left me breathless. The interviewer seems to have missed the point.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

What point did the interviewer not miss? I can't think of one off hand.

[@BuGGyBoBerl]

idk but around 35:05 you can see a perfect moment describing the situation. chomsky gives a detailed explanation and ends with "everyone can see if you pay attention" and the interviewer just goes on with his next stuff like what chomsky said never happend.

[@dianafan272]

I thought I couldn't interview people in English as I'm not an native English speaker, maybe I can't catch the nuances of others' speech. After watching this interview, I feel, all of a sudden, much more confident of my skills ;-D

[@bdstudios6088]

You can certainly do it. See how the Google kids get their jobs even though they don’t have anything profound to say? It’s more about conforming to the system. I’m not great at verbal communication either, but I have confidence in the quality and intention of my thoughts, so I like to write them down. Don’t let the barrier of speech stop you from fighting for what matters

[@JPWingate]

Excellent discussion.

[@Acinc-lr2jp]

It's amazing how Mr Chomsky's can recall the breath of his knowledge and history. What's equally impressive is how he can jump around in history so accurately and precise. Today need Google, algorithms, and analytics to find the stuff he is discussing without a prompters, cues, scripts or notes! Drop the mike Mr C.

[@maxheadrom3088]

This is probably the most crowded of all Google talks - after all, I first heard of Chomsky because of the application of his linguistic theory to compilers. Chomsky made compilers possible!

[@Adeus1]

This guy has no idea how privileged he is to interview this extraordinary man.

[@EXPONENTIAL-ik8uz]

ENOUGH OF THE BUM-LICKING HAGIOGRAPHY! YOU OBSCENE SYCOPHANT!!! WAKE-UP!

[@zuleikaolbye1717]

Thanks for that...

[@jimsmith8052]

we need more discussions by informed people regarding why our democracy is where it is (not working for the large majority of citizens), how we got here, and how to change it.

[@chrisoregan2932]

i guess you heard what Mr Chomsky was telling us!

[@bradfordmccormick9501]

I am impressed that Google sponsored this interview. It motivated me to submit an employment application. I am no Chomsky, but I did sleep one night in 1986 in his summer home, where at the time he was suffering with back trouble. Aoparently his health got much better after then..

[@DL-gx5cr]

Chomsky is diametrically opposed to the very idea of Google existing and how it got its start. So, your takeaway from listening to him talk at Google was to submit an employment application with them?

[@bradfordmccormick9501]

@@DL-gx5cr Why not? Leonardo da Vinci worked for multinational corporations of his time. I'd like to find a patron. Google actually let Chomsky say to themselves some of his thoughts about them. Respectfully, do you have any ideas where else I might apply? I didn't expect to be accepted by Google, but if they could sponsor a lecture by NC, that's something uncommon. And, as DJT said in a different context, What do I have to lose?

[@Elisa-mg3rc]

Besides being an intellectual monument, he is such a lovely human being ❤️❤️❤️

[@neutrino216]

20:20 "google did not help'. Too bad the interviewer did not ask him to elaborate on that and just joked about it.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Yes. You can clearly see the "interviewer" constantly looking down at his list of inane and often irrelevant questions and the single "answer" he was told to give.

[@lizgichora6472]

EXCELLENT!..THANK YOU...

[@cameronchristensen7412]

The interviewer also apparently didn’t look very hard for videos of Chomsky telling a joke just look at any of his major lectures such as “The political economy of the mass media” it literally opens with him having this funny exchange with some dude in the crowd. Or watch the Noam Chomsky funny moments compilation by Year 501.

[@sexpolice101]

One of the Greatest Men ever lived. He has my respect from the heart. He is the beacon of Truth..!!

[@bryancahallmusic]

Love the edit at 19:35 where Chomsky (surely) refers to the "factory girls'" judgement that wage labor was merely another form of slavery. They just flat cut it out. He probably also mentions how that position was the part of the Republican party platform at the time. Stay classy, Google.

[@mazxbv]

wow, good spot. He says near the end that he already talked about the "factory girls" but i didn't remember hearing about it (although I have heard the story before).

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Now why would google edit out the part where Noam talks about wage slavery?

[@freydenker6335]

Nice, Interesting, easy-going interview - Noam never disappoints, but don't forget to READ CHOMSKY! Greets from Berlin : ]

[@ktrimberger]

This is an edited version. I wonder what's been cut out?

[@camellia_black]

According to another comment, at 19:34 there's a cut, which occurs when Chomsky is using his usual segue into his description of wage slavery.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

@@camellia_black : Yes indeed. I read the same comment, but had also noticed the "sneaky" editing google so blatantly did.

[@patriciahuyler4605]

Its pretty obvious to me the interviewer is full of himself and he's not too happy Noam is telling it like it is. Too bad, so sad. Chomsky tells it like it is (in his very sweet and humble way). He's my hero.

[@yaxiongzhao6640]

"Ads is needed for publication" "No, that's not true"... ... I wonder if this host will quit Google and rediscover its tenure at Google was nothing but a capitalism lie ...

[@tichneck]

I honestly have gotten the strong feeling that google engineers are painfully naive. They think they're serving the world with some kind of moral compass, without realizing they are part of a profit generating business.

[@mikel4036]

Excellent talk. Thanks google

[@hansroodzant1777]

Great question at the end Noam!

[@PhilRacicot]

35:15-41:15 The interviewer asks: "Why aren't there more Noam Chomsky's in the world"... I like how Noam Chomsky answers that and the follow-up questions...

[@dufffamilyable]

This interviewer showed disrespect towards Noam Chomsky. He was unable to follow through with intelligent responses because he was not well researched. So... it was embarrassing to hear the interviewer say he had searched for jokes that Noam Chomsky may have told. This put down reflected badly on the interviewer - not Noam Chomsky, who in my opinion has a very dry sense of humour as well as a fabulous intellect.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Yes. You can clearly see the "interviewer" constantly looking down at his list of inane and often irrelevant questions and the single "answer" he was told to give.

[@discorat7543]

Who is the guy that trolled Google with inviting Chomsky? He is a living representation of what is wrong with google.

[@youmothershouldknow4905]

Or rare instance of what is right.

[@5Gazto]

Holy cr... imagine after inviting Chomsky to dinner and after he arrives at one's home he starts to criticise one's family. Cheers to, dare I say, the greatest modern American dissident.

[@Olyphantman]

And Google allowing a simpleton to speak to Dr Chomsky shows that Google wanted no part of getting into a Chomskyesque dialogue. But seriously get a serious person for serious guests.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Yes. You can clearly see the "interviewer" constantly looking down at his list of inane and often irrelevant questions and the single "answer" he was told to give.

[@SamBassComedy]

I love how he gave a few jabs at Google. Incredible. He stays true regardless of the media he's on.

[@mitchellcheng7707]

The man conducting the interview is a fool. "Lets change gears for a sec" "I'd like to take a step back". People like him have been told all their lives that they are smart because they color inside the lines, and they use language like this to approximate critical thought. How is this man qualified to be questioning Chomsky? And if he achieved the necessary accolades to deserve to be on the stage, then it directly speaks to the degradation of education that Chomsky was speaking towards. A flaccid intwerview. NC was obviously tired of him. Computer people doing computer things asking computer questions- Approximating humor and thought and emotion like a Siri. What a weird, transitional time we live in.

[@demonstrativesignfield]

The interviewer didn't listen to a word Chomsky said and felt intimidated. He is the perfect image of the digital age and it's lack of compassion and empathy, willing to live in his bubble of a job that provides that loud suit and an opportunity to let the mind reside in apathy. Silly interview conducted by a machine.

[@demonstrativesignfield]

Interviewer is a huge asshole to a man towards whom he should have the most humility and utmost respect.

Mitchell Cheng but it's Google...the epicenter of 21st century intelligence...lmao. these dbags are autobots? you ever send a night out in SF the last 10 years...the City is crawling with these brainless aholes...

[@YodasPapa]

Agreed, but I suspect such people have always existed. Reminds me of people I've seen in my life who adopt the bodily and linguistic mannerisms of the people they are around unnaturally quickly like if they just say the right words they'll be accepted regardless of substance - and I'm there looking at them thinking 'where's the real you?'. I don't dislike them for it exactly, because I just feel like I don't know them and just uncomfortable like I am watching this guy.

[@bmurray942]

Mitchell Cheng I thought he was just a young nervous kid until the end about marketing and how offended he appeared when Chomsky put the smack down on the bloated commercial consumerism. My response to NC's description of an informative GM ad that told actual stats of the vehicle instead of the blathering of some prop celebrity, "THANK YOU!!" To add to that, I don't pay attention to ads unless they interrupt my peace with any sound or they crash my browser and when either of those happen, well that's when I take note and consider learning about their competition.

[@gadgetsunarmed]

"Harvard Faculty" at around 23:50 = Alan Dershowitz in case anyone's wondering.

[@GingerDrums]

"Switching gears for a moment..." Please, just go away.

[@bradmodd7856]

I am offended that you are offended....you probably should frame things in terms of what you love rather than what you hate....in which case I would have said....you missed an opportunity to be explicit in describing a way his choice of mannerism could have been better made

[@GingerDrums]

​@@bradmodd7856 Hey Brad. In an explicit way: he is arrogant and patronising. His false chipper attitude is not a problem of mannerism but of orientation towards his interviewee, a lack of respect for the gravity of the topics raised. As such there is very little positive to say about him in this context. As for your offence, thats too bad, but ironic that you frame your comment by the modern boon of offence, and then continue to prescribe the way in which I comment should be through "love".

[@sarahmasia6947]

Tone deaf interviewer

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

@@GingerDrums : One could assume that Brad just made a wrong assumption about who you were referring to. I say that in part because I was unsure at first too, as I did not remember that specific comment even though I did indeed listen to the entire video. To be fair to you as well, I often assume people will know witch "side" I am referring to. So I am trying to make sure I am very clear about such things. That said, I do agree with your assessment.

[@padraicloingsigh421]

Google should be a public utility.

[@rd264]

google is a public toilet.

[@donfox1036]

Padraic loingsigh , meaning?

[@Kalumbatsch]

@@donfox1036 Google "public utility". Get it? *Google* 😀

[@manolodocampo7108]

Amazing

[@ncvideos501]

Why aren't there more Noam Chomskys? 35:05

[@mazxbv]

that's crazy, right after Chomsky finished talking about "critics" of the Vietnam war, the interviewer wanted to hear Chomsky tell a joke...

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

The piss poor interviewer, with his list of lame questions and deliberate obfuscation of Noam's points with his one google-approved response (not to mention the obvious editing to delete what Noam said about wage-slavery) is very telling. In fact, much more telling about google than if they'd done none of those things.

[@astrowuff]

Fascinating man that exposed aspects of society that are hidden to most people. I hope I'm as active and lucid as he is at his age.

[@manolodocampo7108]

Love this stuff

[@adamcturnbull]

What a mind. Nobody can debate him. The only American that has shined a light on the misdeeds and folly of the U.S Government in such a way. Still as sharp as he was in 1969.

[@archstanton3059]

This is a pretty good representation of Google, we include everyone! And although their opinions might be pertinent and essential, we will pretend to listen and continue to go after collecting information and selling advertisements, but believe ourselves to be working towards the greater good, didn't you see us feign interest during that time the man came with the essential insight we completely ignored?

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Don't forget the obvious edit of Noam talking about wage slavery.

[@i.kaminskiy7563]

Love this guy! Such an inspiration!

[@michaelenglish839]

Chomsky is a great interview, and a pain in the ass to interview lol

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

True that, lols. Pain is an important part of life too. It tells us that something is broken.

[@fuked8229]

Man, I absolutely love it when they call Prof. Dr. Chomsky a dissident. That means I am normal and the establishment can have me arrested, Yet!

[@jackrabbit2992]

wow Chomsky at Google!!!!

[@garrettflint1348]

Wow this interviewer was in way over his head.. 😅 Noam was throwing it down!

[@loukreu]

@48:55 simple yet astonishing analysis of the current neoliberal, market-driven era

[@AWildBard]

Great last question

[@joeknockane8831]

"Let's turn society into a sack o' potatoes..." Google Guy's face says, "how much are they paying me again?"

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Exactly. You can clearly see the "interviewer" constantly looking down at his list of inane and often irrelevant questions and the single "answer" he was told to give.

[@tamtom1078]

Can we see the full interview, please?

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Not if google has any say, lols. There was clearly a crappy edit to delete what Noam said about wage slavery. That should tell everyone all they need to know about google.

[@boroniamoore]

Absolute man of the people, live long & well Mr Chomsky

[@carlporter]

Excellent point about the Boston Globe--capital concentration and advertising reliance. Long before the Internet, the quality of our local paper was killed by being bought up. What happened to local? The content shift is exactly as Chomsky described. Luckily, in my community an Internet source for local news popped up, but what happens when that editor retires? It is interesting for Chomsky to be interviewed by someone who can't remember pre-1979 America. What is your view of the World if you have only lived under neoliberalism?

[@ggrthemostgodless8713]

I wish they had brought the Julian Assange situation up.

[@firereality]

how IT company like Google mess the sound up!

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Purposefully.

[@infograffitrees5879]

Thank you for sharing 49:10 Antrophocene

[@SimonClaringbold]

Google, why don't you do some of the serious things? A prophetic question from Noam Chomsky, & over to you Google - improve democracy, make education more accessible, create a policy institute to encourage policy for the protection and promotion of society, all points discussed by Chomsky himself

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

All of your answers can be found by discerning why they would edit out the part where Noam starts to talk about wage slavery.

[@paweszygendowski2490]

Noam Chomsky has been saying "ok boomer" even before boomers were born

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

*No. He never once said that, period.* Ageism is just another form of bigotry and essentially no different than racism or genderism. I doubt it was your intention, but you just became part of the problem in this _Misinformation Age._ I suggest you reconsider for the sake of all of us, especially those who are younger and yet unborn. Spread information and critical thought processes, not bigoted memes.

[@waharadome]

@@aylbdrmadison1051 ok boomer

[@blanchequizno7306]

In 1996 George Carlin called out the Boomers, too

[@qwertyqart]

by now Chomsky has been at Google multiple times and I find it kind of surprising.

[@ramonagalen]

Three times, to be exact. And not surprising at all.

[@qwertyqart]

even though I do admire more parties, I do find it surprising. from both sides, invitees and invited.

[@ramonagalen]

Not surprising at all.

[@riccardo9383]

Corporations are not totalitarian enough yet to keep him from speaking to it's workers.

[@ramonagalen]

Ricardo Ruiz well as one of "the workers" I was actually asked to bring him to Google to speak.

[@felipe230260]

great

[@ExploreLearnEnglishWithGeorge]

it's very inspiring from Google to invite Mr. Noam Chomsky and ask him questions that essentially do score some goals into their own gate..very hope-inspiring from such a giant corporation as Google! As well, I'm very shocked that Google has sold it's robot development branch..what a shocker that is!!!

[@yurona5155]

Interviewer to the guy who devised the concepts fundamental to all programming languages: 'I'm a software engineer and I have nothing to do with linguistics.' - Does not compute... *brrrzzzl* (Sorry, the interview wasn't bad at all, but stuff like this makes you want to put a vise to your balls...)

[@Rottensteam]

You make computer go beep boop beep boop!

[@pt17171]

Your Owner Yes just shows you that what is called Software Engineer these days, even at Google means someone who knows how to use computer code.

[@asparwhite86]

i smacked myself in heard when he said that. interviewer was sort of a jack ass.

[@genghisdon1]

interviewer did fine IMHO, as he obviously comes from a very different place/point of view. It would be frustrating to interview anyone & have them refuse to answer questions posed, and instead answer on what they please, as Chomsky increasingly does as it progresses. I get how & why Chomsky does that, but I think the interviewer handled it pretty well. Credit to Google for even doing this: not many corps would invite Chomsky to slap them in the face like this.

[@rinkobayashi8186]

I thought exactly the same thing. Software guy who doesn't understand the connection of how programming LANGUAGES are related to Linguistics. Furthermore, it was a bad interview, the interviewer was not prepared and at times down right disrespectful.

[@VarunArora]

It pains me how bad the interviewer is. One of the poorest listeners I have seen hosting a talk at Google. Chomsky deserves much much better, at the very least

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

By design.

[@czarquetzal8344]

"Google doesn't help." Wow, a very blunt and to-the-point comment. I have been citing Chomsky in my undergraduate Literature and Linguistics classes but I was not aware that he is that active.

[@Johnconno]

Mr Chomsky has worked at MIT since it was built. In 1956 he changed a lightbulb, followed by an afternoon sweeping the playground in 1968.

[@Kalumbatsch]

Ha ha. Funny.

[@mck1972]

Comparing the contributions of Noam Chomsky to those of janitors is an insult- -To Janitors!

[@ccc3]

58:20 Chomsky predicting Tesla advertising

[@akbarrauf2741]

noam chomsky is my hero and my inspiration .Chomsky,Bernie, Corbyn the holy trinity

[@patrickmcloughlin6108]

crusty old socialist that haven't quite realised the world has moved on. Has any one missed the irony of Chomsky giving a talk at google?

[@hmarkow1]

all those crusty old socialists are most popular politicians in their respective countries, not to mention the grassroots movements that sprung around them. So what the fuck are you talking about?

[@patrickmcloughlin6108]

ok mate - undergraduates tweeting quotes by them and half reading their books doesn't really constitute a movement.

[@hmarkow1]

right, so you haven't been paying attention: i said they're the most popular in their countries not only universities. It even pierced through the conservative bubble: insider.foxnews.com/2017/04/11/most-least-popular-us-senators-morning-consult-poll-bernie-sanders-mitch-mcconnell *edited to add link.

[@patrickmcloughlin6108]

no - you haven't been paying attention. Corbyn will lose my a wide margin tomorrow, Bernie was crushed by his own party and Chomsky isn't even in politics. In fact that particular old capitalist is quite deft being a good ol' capitalist. Have a look at this: www.hoover.org/research/noam-chomsky-closet-capitalist

[@vinifg12]

My hero!

[@GamalElDinsoliman]

Google could do better selecting another interviewer to be able to handle Chomsky talk.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

This is by design. It's easier for them to just look dumb sometimes when faced with unerring truths that don't fit their desire to oppress people.

[@StreetartUnitedStates]

I have yet to see Noam Chomsky on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN... Jeez I wonder why they don't host him?

[@lovemuffin772]

I know for a fact that Noam has been on CNN and ABC. Not sure about the other two.

[@shahuni]

Isn't it obvious that he'll go there and talk about how they are the corrupt media houses which promote propaganda and help the rich acquire power which they'll use for their own profit.

[@mck1972]

" Jeez I wonder why they don't host him? " The most likely explanation is that in reality, Chomsky is just a Linguistics Professor, with ZERO Real World Experience in ANY OTHER field.

[@ivan00001983]

He is consistently ignored by mainstream US media for decades, because he is critical and tries to uncover powerful crooks

[@whome9396]

He has said why and the technical term I'm at a loss for. But his point was his answers are far to expansive for network t.v.. One must speak very concisely and not talk on something that cant be explained away in a very simple way and in a brief amount of time. During Chomsky's talks the amount of content is colossal in comparison to network t.v. in relative amount of time. Besides that popular news is designed for an 8 year old comprehension level. You might have to actually be 10 to understand mr. Chomsky.