Critical Thinker: Noam Chomsky

        A critical thinker is an open-minded, well-informed individual who judges the creditability of sources, while judging well the quality of an argument. This includes the acceptability of its reasons, assumptions and evidence. Critical thinkers are disposed to seek alternative hypothesis, explanations and conclusions. When we students were assigned the task to write and post about someone who we perceive to be a critical thinker, immediately the first and only person to come to mind was none other than Noam Chomsky.
        Noam Chomsky is a world famous linguist and a major figure of analytic philosophy who teaches linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is often described as "The Father of Modern Linguistics" and "the most cited author on Earth". The New York Times call him "arguably the most important intellectual alive". Plato once asked, "How can a human know so much that he seems to have had little evidence for?". Chomsky asks the same question about the way children easily master language. Chomsky's approach to the study of linguistics and the cognitive processes is like that of Plato's. They both search for abstract and ideal forms as explanations rather than merely drawing generalizations from observations. The Father of Modern Philosophy, Rene Descartes developed and layed out rules to help navigate safely though chains of logic to reach reliable, though limited conclusions. These rules for thinking logically toward reliable conclusion include, accepting only clear and distinct ideas and the breaking of each problem into as many parts as necessary to solve it. In Chomsky's critical thinking, he adheres tightly to these basic principles. Noam Chomsky is an anarchist who strongly believes in the libertarian left. Chomsky analyzes the traditions of the Luxembourgian, Bakunin, and Kropotkin among others, and draws his own conclusions after critically evaluating every position. After critically analyzing our government, Chomsky has concluded that our government serves the needs of some, and ignores the needs of others. Chomsky cares about the dignity and worth of every person, our government clearly does not.
        When Chomsky writes or lectures he seriously considers view points other than his own. He examines varies sides to a topic, such as hypothesis, explanations, and sources, then endorses a position that is justified by the information that is available. Whether it be in linguistics, or social activism, Noam Chomsky is a critical thinker who uses responsible reflective thinking when deciding what to believe, or do.