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 ( 7631 )
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Prediction Mania as a Magical Attempt to Foreclose on the Future
I argue that notions like prediction and optimisation work like what religious studies calls cosmograms: supersized, whole-world models for how things relate... Read more
Posted on 01 September 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Economist Bryan Caplan Says That Primary and Secondary School Are a Waste of...
The New York Times is running a set of guest op-eds about education. Bryan Caplan, an economist at George Mason University has one under the title, “School Is... Read more
Posted on 01 September 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Hoboken Peek-a-boo with Hydrangeas
Posted on 01 September 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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A Critical Period for Acquiring Rhythmic Feel?
Steven Pinker recently posted a short video about a critical period for learning language. He reports a recent study he participated in that found that, yes,... Read more
Posted on 01 September 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Music on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Was Good Jazz [Media Notes 79]
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was a children’s TV program that ran from 1968 to 2001. Thus my own childhood was well behind me by the time it got started. But I... Read more
Posted on 01 September 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
A Note on AGI as Concept and as Shibboleth [kissing Cousin to Singularity]
Artificial intelligence as ambitious from its beginnings in the mid-1950s and this or that practitioner would confidently predict that before long computers... Read more
Posted on 30 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cab Calloway and His Band on the Road [railroad]
Photographic print of Cab Calloway and his band in a sleeper car, 1933 #openaccess #museumarchive https://t.co/yzXR22JyPQ pic.twitter. Read more
Posted on 30 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Audiences and Critics Are Now Disagreeing About Blockbusters
Fans and critics agree more often than not. The average difference in their ratings is about 5 points. This year? It is 19. Here are the 10 highest-grossing... Read more
Posted on 30 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Sun and Shade [Hoboken]
Posted on 29 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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My Current Thoughts on AI Doom as a Cult(ish) Phenomenon
I’ve been working on an article in which I argue that belief in and interest in the likelihood that future AI poses an existential risk to humanity – AI Doom –... Read more
Posted on 29 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
At the Docks [Hoboken]
Posted on 28 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Elemental Cognition is Ready to Deploy Hybrid AI Technology in Practical Systems
Steve Lohr, One Man's Dream of Fusing A.I. With Common Sense, NYTimes, Aug. 28, 2022 David Ferrucci is best-known as the researcher who led the team that... Read more
Posted on 28 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Jazz Has Been Blamed for Many Things [Twitter]
Warts on the feet pic.twitter.com/OJj8SSHd49— Paul Fairie (@paulisci) August 25, 2022 Bad teeth pic.twitter.com/I6jOuiWmTO— Paul Fairie (@paulisci) August 25,... Read more
Posted on 27 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Tile Madness [photoshoppery]
Posted on 27 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Sex Among Ath Aka, Hunter-gatherers of the Central African Republic [sex is...
2. The Aka report having sex about 3 times a night, with some days of rest between (all data are self-reported). Here, these frequencies are converted to... Read more
Posted on 26 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Hoboken at Night
Posted on 26 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Religion on the Ground, Sunday Service
I'm bumping this to the top of the queue on general principle. It's from October 2011 and I need to keep it in mind as I think about the future. Read more
Posted on 25 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Some Strange Things for a Thursday Afternoon [from Madam Wayquay's House of...
Posted on 25 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Beyond Linear Regression: Mapping Models in Cognitive Neuroscience Should Align...
In short, if you plan to train an encoding/decoding model of the brain, you should determine which properties of your mapping are essential to your research... Read more
Posted on 25 August 2022 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Three Views of a Barge Going Up-river
Posted on 24 August 2022
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
