Tufts Daily

Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Annie Wermiel/Tufts Daily MIT Professor and world-known linguist Noam Chomsky, respected by many as one of America's top minds, argued last night that nuclear powers should destroy their remaining warheads.

Renowned linguist, philosopher and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Noam Chomsky argued last night that countries possessing nuclear weapons must destroy their warheads if humans are to avoid annihilating each other.

"Humans have developed the capacity to destroy life on earth," he said at one point during his talk in Cabot Auditorium. "The question is 'Will they use it?' And the evidence isn't very comforting."

Chomsky began the speech with a quote from former General of the United States Strategic Command George Lee Butler. "By what authority do succeeding generations of leaders in the nuclear weapons states usurp the power to dictate the odds of continued life on our planet?" Chomsky said.

"Most urgently, why does such breathtaking audacity persist at a moment when we should stand trembling in the face of our folly and united in our commitment to abolish its most deadly manifestation?" Chomsky read.

He cited Butler as one of the many figures who have warned the world against continuing the trend of nuclear aggression.

"To our shame, his questions have taken on much more greater urgency than when he posed them," Chomsky said. "If there were an extraterrestrial observer attending events on Earth since that warning, they would marvel that this species has survived so long."

Chomsky first gained acclaim as a groundbreaking linguist, pioneering the theory of generative grammar, which proposes that people are born with innate knowledge of languages' syntaxes. His work played a role in sparking the rise of cognitive psychology.

During the Vietnam War, Chomsky became well known as a political activist. He has identified himself with anarchism, libertarianism and classical liberalism in the past.

In his talk last night, Chomsky compared what he sees as a looming nuclear catastrophe to climate change. He said that while world leaders are unsure of the solutions to issues like global warming, the threat of nuclear weapons can more easily be eradicated.

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