Noam Chomsky Remains Useless
I almost had a use for Noam Chomsky. I would never have a use for his politics or beliefs (except for maybe something to laugh at), but I was close to having a use of his knowledge as a linguist. Luckily the internet intervened and Noam Chomsky remains useless.
Comment by Shane Wealti — Thursday 30 March, 2006 @ 8:16
I’m not sure what you mean by this post but there aren’t many people who don’t think that Noam Chomsky is one of the major contributors to the study of linguistics as we know it today.
For example, Chomsky is credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar, often considered to be the most significant contribution to the field of theoretical linguistics in the 20th century. (From Wikipedia)
You may not have a use for the theory of generative grammar but it is very useful for people doing research in computational linguistics because it allows for the generation of a set of recursive rules that say whether or not a sentence is well formed.
Comment by Steven A. Stehling — Thursday 30 March, 2006 @ 14:51
Noam once had a use. He’s kinda like the Corey Feldman of the linguistic world. He did a few great things, then he became stagnant and useless and hasn’t done anything worth a damn in years.
I was trying to discover the origin of a particular phrase. Luckily someone had already done the research and I found the document on the internet.
Comment by Shane Wealti — Thursday 30 March, 2006 @ 19:50
Ok, well in that case, yeah I would probably agree with that. I can’t say that I can think of anything that he has done recently that has been as groundbreaking as the theory of generative grammar. Kudos on the 80’s reference!