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.
There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.
Philosophers' Syndrome: mistaking a failure of the imagination for an insight into necessity.
There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain.
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
....it is of the very essence of Christianity to face suffering and death not because they are good, not because they have meaning, but because the resurrection of Jesus has robbed them of their meaning.
It is the unseen and the spiritual in people that determines the outward and the actual.
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