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Comment by dxdm | Hacker News Reader

Why?

I think the federal government and the corporate news media have a lot of credibility issues when it comes to Cuba.

The attacks also happened in China, Russia, and elsewhere. It started in Cuba, but isn’t limited to a particular geometry. It does seem to be limited to US agents and people in their immediate vicinity.

I have a much higher skepticism of self reported symptoms like this than the average person. I know a lot of hypochondriacs personally, so that may be a factor in my judgement. I think the human brain is excellent at coming up with little stories about how we are victims of bad actors.

If I have to draw conclusions, I would think some defensive measures going wrong.

The federal government and the "corporate news media" have a lot more to lose by making shit up. They have actual jobs. What are your sources of information? A rando on Facebook under a fake handle?

Possibly you should read Manufacturing Consent by Chomsky. You know that rando who came up with several core concepts in linguistics, computer science and politics...

> Possibly you should read Manufacturing Consent by Chomsky. You know that rando who came up with several core concepts in linguistics, computer science and politics...

Talent in one area doesn't translate to the same level of talent in other areas. For instance, Nobel Prize-winner Linus Pauling, called "one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time" by New Scientist, promoted high-dose vitamin C as a cancer treatment long after it had been discredited (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Pauling#Medical_research...).

Also, IIRC, Chomsky's contributions to linguistics are somewhat controversial, and I've read that his lock on the field may have set it back by decades.

In fact, Chomsky's formal training was IN linguistics. He was not an expert in politics in any way, and hence his opinion was as valid as anyone's in academia, for example. This is even mentioned in Tom Nichols's "The Death of Expertise".

The vitamin C episode is also covered in the same book :)

Agreed on Chomsky's controversial influence on linguistics (I know a few linguists who have said this).

Also agree the point on talent in general.

In this specific case though I get the impression Chomsky is more highly regarded than most political scientists.

GP comment set the bar rather low by associating criticism of mainstream media with randoms on facebook. Regardless of whether you agree with him I think Chomsky safely exceeds that bar.

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