But on the other hand, in discussion and debate concerning social issues or American foreign policy, Vietnam or the Middle East, for example, the issue is constantly raised, often with considerable venom. I've repeatedly been challenged on grounds of credentials, or asked, what special training do you have that entitles you to speak of these matters. The assumption is that people like me, who are outsiders from a professional viewpoint, are not entitled to speak on such things.
Noam ChomskyThere is no body of theory or significant body of relevant information, beyond the comprehension of the layman, which makes policy immune from criticism.
Noam ChomskyA number of analysts have observed that although bin Laden was finally killed, he won some major successes in his war against the U.S.
Noam ChomskyThat intellectuals, including academics, would become a "new class" of technocrats, claiming the name of science while cooperating with the powerful, was predicted by [Mikhail] Bakunin in the early days of the formation of the modern intelligentsia in the 19th century.
Noam ChomskyWe're supposed to worship Adam Smith but you're not supposed to read him. That's too dangerous.
Noam ChomskyThe very properties of the human mind that provide an enormous scope for human genius in some domains will serve as barriers to progress in other domains, just as the properties that enable each child to acquire a complex and highly articulated human language block the acquisition of other imaginable linguistic systems.
Noam Chomsky