AUDIENCE: You've had
a chance to look over
the syllabus for this course.
What value do you think
it might have for learners
in the outside
world, and would you
recommend that they take
a look at these readings
and try to apply them
to their own lives?
NOAM CHOMSKY: Yeah,
quite definitely.
I mean, if we want to have
any constructive impact
on the world, any interchange
with the world that
will improve it will deal with
the innumerable problems that
exist.
It has to be based
on understanding
of social, political,
economic reality.
Otherwise, you can't
act in any serious way,
just as you couldn't
go into a chemistry lab
and conduct an experiment
unless you knew something
about chemistry.
Otherwise, you could mix
chemicals and make funny smells
and so on.
But if you want to
do something serious,
you have to understand first.
And the syllabus of the course
and conduct of the course
is aimed at and I think
succeeds in providing
the kind of fundamental
understanding and challenge
open questions that
people have to think about
if they want to be
able to participate
in a meaningful way in
the general society.
