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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Consciousness, Reorganization and Polyviscosity, Part 2 (mini-ramble)
As I explained previously – Consciousness, reorganization and polyviscosity, Part 1 – William Powers identified consciousness with the process of reorganization... Read more
Posted on 18 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Up on Bergen Hill [Hoboken]
Posted on 17 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Some Statistical Problems with AI [self-driving Cars]
First of all, the basics: random distributions can either be short-tailed (finite variance such as Gaussian) or fat tailed (e.g. Pareto). Read more
Posted on 17 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Splish Splash
Posted on 16 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Thriving and Jiving with Music @3QD [+ Liszt & Roma Music]
I’ve got another post up at 3 Quarks Daily: Thriving and Jiving Among Friends and Family: The Place of Music in Everyday Life It’s a lightly revised version of... Read more
Posted on 16 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Looking North Then South on the Hudson at 5 in the Morning
Posted on 15 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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How is a Text Like an Image? [deep Learning & Symbols]
I find it interesting that deep learning has done well with both images and texts, though they are very different kinds of objects presenting ostensibly... Read more
Posted on 15 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Loss of Complexity in Vocal Anatomy as an Adaptation for Speech
Evolutionary loss of complexity in human vocal anatomy as an adaptation for speech https://t.co/MOEj2k2lth— Bill Benzon, BAM! Bootstrapping Artificial Minds... Read more
Posted on 14 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Various Flowers
Posted on 14 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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We Don’t Know How to Have Fun, Not Really [long-term Behavioral Flexibility]
Laura Vanderkam, Don’t Feel Guilty About Working on Vacation — or About Vacationing at Work, NYTimes, August 13, 2022. Here’s a problem: And when we do take tim... Read more
Posted on 14 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Winning a Grammy Encourages an Artist to Amplify the Unique Aspects of Their...
The paper speculates that non-winners may become conformists since they decide to switch strategies in order to winOr they may be victims of the... Read more
Posted on 13 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
I'm Feeling Like It's Yacht Time
Posted on 13 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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My Jazz Education 8: Learning to Improvise, Part 2 – the Buffalo Years
Though I’ve written quite a bit here and there about my general experience as an improviser I’ve also written more specifically about learning to improvise in... Read more
Posted on 13 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Various Street Scenes [Hobokin]
Posted on 12 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Consciousness, Reorganization and Polyviscosity
The nature of consciousness is one of the big mysteries of contemporary thought. The best account of consciousness I know of is that offered by William Powers i... Read more
Posted on 12 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Sabine Hossenfelder on Reductionism [computers (& Implementation)]
Robert Lawrence Kuhn is hosting Sabine Hossenfelder is a discussion of her new book, Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions. Read more
Posted on 12 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
History as (Socio-Cultural) Evolution
Nathan Nunn, History as Evolution, in Alberto Bisin and Giovanni Federico, eds. The handbook of historical economics, Academic Press 2021. Read more
Posted on 11 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Pleasure of Thinking While Just Hanging out and Waiting
Hatano, A., Ogulmus, C., Shigemasu, H., Murayama, K. (2022). Thinking about thinking: People underestimate how enjoyable and engaging just waiting is.... Read more
Posted on 10 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Wired
Posted on 09 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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The Loss of Agency and the Rise of Magic in AI Culture
DL has a default culture of refusing to admit that we can figure out how the systems do what they do, which drives me into fits of irrational rage. It's... Read more
Posted on 09 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
