Bbenzon
Description
Humankind got its start on the African savannas some hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years ago. At various times in our cultural history we’ve moved to distinctly new cultural ground, as it were. And so we are moving now, and have been for the past half century. This blog is how I see that move. Intellectually, I'm broadly interested in culture and the brain. Within that compass, anything could show up here. Literature and films (including animation), certainly, music as well, and graffiti. But, other things may show up as well. It's a blog, don't you know, it moves.
MY BLOGS
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New Savanna
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/
Humankind got its start on the African savannas some hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years ago. At various times in our cultural history we’ve moved to distinctly new cultural ground, as it were. And so we are moving now, and have been for the past half century. This blog is how I see that move. I'm broadly interested in culture and the brain. Within that compass, anything could show up here. Literature and films (including animation), certainly, music as well, and graffiti. But, other things may show up as well. It's a blog, don't you know, it moves.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 7356 )
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ChatGPT Gives a Girardian Reading of AI: Artificial Intelligence
Just around the corner, Tyler Cowen has a short post with some observations about Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He was “was struck by how Girardian... Read more
Posted on 24 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: At the Artisan's Market
Posted on 23 December 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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SBF from Girard to Dawkins to Xanadu
This started out as a short note to a colleague. But, like Topsy, it jew grew and grew. "So," says I to myself, "I've got a blog post here." And so I dropped... Read more
Posted on 22 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
I Take the Ceramic Mug for a Walk
Posted on 21 December 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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ChatGPT Knows About the Bergen Arches in Jersey City
Most of my dialogs with ChatGPT have been about relatively abstract and general things, justice and charity, trumpets and trumpeters, some movies, tutoring, etc. Read more
Posted on 20 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Potpourri! Taking Photos (again!), Back to the Future, ChatGPT, Organizing a...
I’ve been busy. Time to sit back for a second and take a quick look. Photos It looks like I put my camera(s) down from August through the end of November. Read more
Posted on 20 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Fruit on Display Outdoors in Hoboken
Posted on 19 December 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Does ChatGPT’s Performance Warrant Working on a Tutor for Children? [It’s Time t...
Of course we already have sophisticated robot toys and companion robots for, e.g. older people, but I have no direct experience with any of these. Tutoring is... Read more
Posted on 19 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
What Nuts Roasting Over What Fire?
“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” became a massive hit for Nat King Cole in 1946. It was composed by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé: According to Tormé, the song wa... Read more
Posted on 18 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Lunch at Mickey D's
Posted on 17 December 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Margaret Masterman, Pioneering Computational Linguist [+ Haiku]
Margaret Masterman was one of the pioneers of computational linguistics, though it was called machine translation when she first worked in the field. She had... Read more
Posted on 17 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Views of a Ceramic Cup
Posted on 16 December 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Abstract Concepts and Metalingual Definition: Does ChatGPT Understand Justice an...
Our conceptual worlds are filled with abstract concepts, such as truth, love, beauty, and justice. Such concepts cannot be defined in physical terms. You can’t... Read more
Posted on 16 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Christmas Magic
Posted on 15 December 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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We’ve Stepped Over the Threshold into the Fourth Arena, but Don’t Recognize It
First there was the world of inanimate matter, the First Arena. Life arose from that, the Second Arena. Only 100s of thousands of years ago humans evolved from... Read more
Posted on 15 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Hanging There
Posted on 14 December 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Does AI Remain in the Grip of Chess-thinking?
I don’t know. These are some thoughts I found in notes I made about two years ago. * * * * * Much of the AI world remains captive to its original concerns and... Read more
Posted on 14 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Fusion, We Have Achieved Ignition! But Why So Long, and When Will It Be...
Kenneth Chang, Scientists Achieve Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough With Blast of 192 Lasers, NYTimes, Dec. 13, 2022. “This is such a wonderful example of a... Read more
Posted on 14 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Current State of AI: ChatGPT and Beyond [Ramble]
I’ve been spending A LOT of time with ChatGPT; my MSWord doc containing a record of that interaction is currently 116 pages and 38K words long. I don’t know... Read more
Posted on 13 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Language Models and Future Progress in Biology
Sam Rodriques, Why is progress in biology so slow? He's particularly interested in research leading to therapeutic uses. Three topics: Speed (the slow pace of... Read more
Posted on 13 December 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
