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The analysts identify three major crises. One of them, of course, is nuclear war. The second is the destruction of the environment. The third is the deterioration of rational discourse. It may sound at first as though the third does not qualify, does not rank with the two existential threats, serious as it may be. That’s a mistake. It does qualify. The reason is that the only hope for confronting the two existential crises is through rational deliberation and planning guided by an informed citizenry. So those three crises are the right choice.
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is probably the most important living intellectual in the world and is one of the most influential philosophers of all time. Hailed as the father of modern linguistics, Chomsky is a linguist, cognitive scientist, sociologist, philosopher, writer, and political activist.
Chomsky has already given several lectures in Brazil and is constantly raising awareness about my country’s politics, among other issues.
In this quote, Chomsky refers to analysts of the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic clock held at the University of Chicago that has evaluated, since 1947, the risks of destruction of the human race by nuclear war.
The quote was made in the online course How to Stop the Doomsday Clock, which I was fortunate enough to attend. I recommend the course to readers of the blog.
Notes
The Doomsday Clock – Wikipedia.
How to Stop the Doomsday Clock Course – Instituto Conhecimento Liberta.
Acknowledgment: I’d like to thank my English teacher, Anneka F.
