> I've been told he has a bad reputation among linguists as being intolerant, brow-beating, and intellectually hyperconservative.
Well, not the ones I know (linguists, that is).
But of course he's the Grand Old Man, and he's done more for the field than anybody since Jakob Grimm. To paraphrase an observation I think Lenin once made, his mistakes have been more valuable than the things lesser people get right. He's made real testable claims about language -- a thing very few philologists or linguists have ever done -- and to the extent that those have been proven wanting, that work itself has shed light on the subject which, but for Chomsky, would never have shone.
Fact is, he bestrides the field like a colossus. And so of course all the epigoni take pot shots. Any up-and-comer with his bones to make figures that a successful whack at Chomsky would do the job -- but if you take a whack at Chomsky he whacks back, and he packs quite a whack.
I've spent some time with the guy, talking about this and that, and he struck me as quite modest and approachable. But he's very clear-headed, and if you say something stupid he'll show you just how stupid it is. Not vindictively or snarkily, but comprehensively. He just follows the thought where it leads, and if you end up feeling foolish, he doesn't even notice. He's thinking about the topic, not your amour-propre.
He's a nerd, in the best sense of the term. He's not suave, though in my experience he's thoroughly civil. But if you argue with him, he argues back. And since he's a very smart guy, you'll come away with a bruise or two.
How you deal with this experience depends very largely, I think, on the role that personal vanity plays in your character. As we all know, there are lots of academics out there who really need to be the smartest person in the room and can't stand it when they're not. Unfortunately, it's a tall order to be the smartest person in the room as long as Chomsky is present.
Obviously, I'm a fan. I can understand why others might not like him. But frankly, I don't think it says anything good about them.
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Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org