Quality Intellect

[Prasad Velusamy]

What the famous linguist says can be considered
here. Keeping politics/polemics out and sticking to
Indological matters surely will help.

[BEGIN QUOTE]
In my own professional work I have touched on a
variety of different fields. I've done work
in mathematical linguistics, for example, without
any professional credentials in mathematics; in
this subject I am completely self-taught, and
not very well taught. But I've often been invited
by universities to speak on mathematical linguistics
at mathematics seminars and colloquia. No one has
ever asked me whether I have the appropriate
credentials to speakon these subjects; the
mathematicians couldn't care less. What they want
to know is what I have to say. No one has ever
objected to my right to speak, asking whether I
have a Doctor's degree in mathematics, or whether
I have taken advanced courses in this subject. That
would never have entered their minds. They want to
know whether I am right or wrong, whether the subject
is interesting or not, whether better approaches
are possible - the discussion dealt with the subject,
not with my right to discuss it.
  But on the other hand, the discussion or debate
concerning social issues or American foreign policy,
Vietnam or the Middle East, for example, the issue
is constantly raised, often with considerable venom.
I've repeatedly been challenged on grounds of
credentials, or asked, what special training do you
have that entitles you to speak of these matters.
The assumption is that people like me, who are
outsiders from a professional viewpoint, are not
entitled to speak on such things.
  Compare mathematics and the political sciences -
it's quite striking. In mathematics, in physics,
people are concerned with what you say, not with
your certification. But in order to speak about
social reality, you must have the proper credentials,
particularly if you depart from the accepted
framework of thinking. Generally speaking, it
seems fair to say that the richer the intellectual
substance of a field, the less there is concern
for credentials, and the greater is the concern
for content.
[END QUOTE]
N. Chomsky, 6-7, Language and Responsibility, 1979.

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