There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
I did used to have nightmares about the idea that when I die, there is a spark of consciousness which basically creates the world. 'Is the world going to disappear if this spark of consciousness disappears? And how do I know it won't? How do I know there's anything there except what I'm conscious of?'
Interpretation
The quote explores the relationship between consciousness and reality, questioning whether the world exists independently of our perception.
In this quote, Noam Chomsky reflects on the unsettling idea that our consciousness might be the very fabric of reality. By contemplating the possibility that the world could vanish when we die, he questions the nature of existence and whether anything exists beyond our perception. This introspection reveals deep philosophical concerns about the existence of an objective reality if it is solely defined by individual consciousness.
In practice
In a philosophy class, discussing the nature of reality.
There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
God never measures the mind... He always put His tape measure in the HEART
I am gay on the outside, especially among my own folk (I count Poles my own); but inside something gnaws at me; some presentiment, anxiety, dreams - or sleeplessness - melancholy, indifference - desire for life, and the next instant, desire for death; some kind of sweet peace, some kind of numbness, absent-mindedness.
I have my own soul. My own spark of divine fire.
The years like great black oxen tread the world, and God, the herdsman goads them on behind, and I am broken by their passing feet.
The flip side of suicide is that it leaves a lingering question in the minds of the people who survived. It's like a cancer that's metastasized. The suicide is the cancer and the metastasis is all these people saying, Why? Why? Why?
Some people tried to hurt us to protect themselves, their family and communities...This was one of the consequences of civil war. People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy. Even people who knew you became extremely careful about how they related or spoke to you.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.