Chomsky's triumphalistic rhetoric is inversely proportional to the actual empirical results that he can point to. --Frederick Newmeyer, 2003 [273]
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker argues Chomsky's confident rhetoric grows when evidence shrinks.
- In plain terms
- He talks bigger when he has less proof.
- What can you take from it?
- Demand evidence for strong claims.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How should confidence match evidence?
- Is rhetoric a substitute for data?
Another view
The inverse relationship described is subjective and hard to measure objectively.
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