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Noam Chomsky - "The machine, the ghost, and the limits of understanding"

Andy80o · 471.9K views · 2012-04-30 · 1:31:54

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Overview

Noam Chomsky's 2011 University of Oslo lecture on Newton's contributions to the study of mind. He argues Newton abandoned mechanical explanation and lowered the bar for scientific intelligibility, with consequences for the limits of human understanding. Q&A starts at 45:33.

On Hacker News

Recommended as a lucid, insightful lecture on the limits of human knowledge and the study of mind, one commenter calling it among the best lectures ever.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2013–2022

Topics

Consciousness & cognitionPhilosophy & ethicsScientific method & science communication
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chomskynewtonmind-body problemlimits of knowledgehistory of science

What people said

mrwnmonm · 2021-03 · Strong recommendation

Maybe off-topic, but Prof. Chomsky always mention how important Newton was in the history of science and how significant his giving up on the mechanical philosophy when he failed to explain gravity in a mechanical way, how "lowering the bar" was important to set a realistic direction for science. He has many lectures about it, I like this one: [VIDEO] , one of the best lectures ever.

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Supermancho · 2022-09 · Recommendation

Chomsky's surprisingly insightful thinking on the limits of human knowledge, and the consequences: [VIDEO]

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hyperpallium · 2018-06 · Reference

Mechanical: the contact theory, that one thing can only affect another by being in contact with it e.g. the teeth of gears. Unfortunately, gravity ("spooky action at a distance") does not require contact, so the mechanical theory fails. Which can be stated figuratively as "the world is not a machine". "The machine, the ghost, and the limits of understanding: Newton's contributions to the study of mind" at the University of Oslo, September 2011 [VIDEO]

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