Posted on 01/31/2005 11:13:42 PM PST by minus_273
I ran into this on a liberal site opposing the Super Bowl . I thought this was such an interesting example of the faux-intellectualism we see everyday from the left that i had to post it here. It's good for a few laughs. I like the use of "Joe-Six Pack --that kind" where referring to normal people.
"Now there are other media too whose basic social role is quite different: it's diversion. There's the real mass media-the kinds that are aimed at, you know, Joe Six Pack -- that kind. The purpose of those media is just to dull people's brains.
This is an oversimplification, but for the eighty percent or whatever they are, the main thing is to divert them. To get them to watch National Football League. And to worry about "Mother With Child With Six Heads," or whatever you pick up on the supermarket stands and so on. Or look at astrology. Or get involved in fundamentalist stuff or something or other. Just get them away. Get them away from things that matter. And for that it's important to reduce their capacity to think.
Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people something to pay attention to that's of no importance. [audience laughs] That keeps them from worrying about -- [applause] keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it's striking to see the intelligence that's used by ordinary people in [discussions of] sports [as opposed to political and social issues]. I mean, you listen to radio stations where people call in -- they have the most exotic information [more laughter] and understanding about all kind of arcane issues. And the press undoubtedly does a lot with this.
You know, I remember in high school, already I was pretty old. I suddenly asked myself at one point, why do I care if my high school team wins the football game? [laugbter] I mean, I don't know anybody on the team, you know? [audience roars] I mean, they have nothing to do with me, I mean, why I am cheering for my team? It doesn't mean any -- it doesn't make sense. But the point is, it does make sense: it's a way of building up irrational attitudes of submission to authority, and group cohesion behind leadership elements -- in fact, it's training in irrational jingoism. That's also a feature of competitive sports. I think if you look closely at these things, I think, typically, they do have functions, and that's why energy is devoted to supporting them and creating a basis for them and advertisers are willing to pay for them and so on."
- Noam Chomsky in the documentary "Manufacturing Consent"
Chomsky is an overeducated idiot. He knows how to use words, but he hasn't got a single useful thing to say.
somebody needs to play football with Noam Chomsky
If they ran out of things to protest, liberals would protest protesting.
Reading Noam Chomsky is like watching a car wreck. You don't want to look, but you really can't help yourself. Hint to Noam, the guys that actually had dates in high school were the ones that played sports. You were the guy visiting with your invisible friend and the only member of the Esperanto club.
Football good. Chomsky dumb.
He is the most famous linguist ever. This is the academic equivalent to being the world's tallest midget.
That explains so much.
Chomsky is right in a sense, but in another sense he completely misses the point. Yes, it is true that sports really don't matter. They are entertainment. Are movies a distraction too? Does Chomsky consider people stupid for getting emotionally involved in a fictional movie? I hope not.
Sports are a unique form of entertainment in that nobody knows in advance who will actually win. In a movie, the plot is whatever the writer and director decided it would be, but nobody arbitrarily decides the outcome of a football game.
Having said that, I do think that some people get too wrapped up in sports and lose sight of more important things.
A bunch of linked together blather. Basically a word salad.
ROFL, what a nerd. Give him a swirly.
That's debatable.
Well, Chomsky's article might be drivel, but I've picked up two new phrases to work into my vernacular - especially useful when I need to talk to my son's high school English teacher!
I Agree - if it weren't for sentence fragments, he wouldn't have a writing style at all. This is in addition to the fact that he ignores the first rule of writing: Have Something To Say".
What he's trying to say is that he throws like a girl.
I'm willing to lay odds that the jocks at his school gave him wedgies on a daily basis.
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