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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Perhaps These Conditions Aren't Mental Disorders at All (anxiety, Depression,...
Alison Escalante, Researchers Doubt That Certain Mental Disorders Are Disorders At All, Forbes, Aug. 11, 2020. What if mental disorders like anxiety,... Read more
Posted on 25 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
What Economic Growth and Statistical Semantics Tell Us About the Structure of th...
New working paper. Title above. Download at: Academia:... Read more
Posted on 24 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Analogy as a Force in Cultural Evolution
The nub of this idea started sprouting at least 3yrs ago (EHBEA 2017!) really kicked off after @drstevilphd recommend I read Hofstadter Sander's "Surfaces ... Read more
Posted on 24 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Visual Repreentation in the Mouse
Together with @UriCohen42 @DiamantakiMaria @eywalker @viajake @CellTypist @HSompolinsky and @AndreasTolias we show that a set of lateral visual areas visual... Read more
Posted on 23 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cultural Influences on Word Meanings Revealed Through Large-scale Semantic...
Thompson, B., Roberts, S. G., Lupyan, G. (2020). Cultural influences on word meanings revealed through large-scale semantic alignment. Nature Human... Read more
Posted on 23 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Anxiety is on the Rise in America
Renee D.Goodwin, Andrea H. Weinberger, June H. Kim, Melody Wu, Sandro Galea, Trends in anxiety among adults in the United States, 2008-2018: Rapid increases... Read more
Posted on 22 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Let's Take a Walk Along the River
Posted on 22 August 2020
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Saturday Ramble: GPT-3, Your AI Companion, Metaphysics, Instagram [& Identity]
Yikes! But I’ve been busy. And it’s not going to stop. GPT-3 update – GPT-X: The Star Trek computer and beyond Back on August 5 I’d issued my first working pape... Read more
Posted on 22 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Our Quest to Understand the Brain – with Matthew Cobb
The brain might be the most complicated object in the universe. Matthew Cobb explains how we know what we know. Matthew's book "The Idea of the Brain" is... Read more
Posted on 22 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
How and Why Sebastian Cabot Created the First Business Corporation [Progress]
Anton Howes, Age of Invention: Birth of the Business Corporation. He opens: I discussed last time how the use of patent monopolies came to England in the... Read more
Posted on 21 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Deep in the Garden [Hallucinated City]
Posted on 21 August 2020
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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The Mix-and-match Trumpet Kit: 49,252 Trumpets Can Be Yours [anxiety]
Indirectly this is about trumpeter’s performance anxiety. At least I think it is, but only indirectly. Directly, first I tell a little about my history with... Read more
Posted on 21 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Totoro Bus Stop, for Real [sorta']
Japanese grandparents create life-size Totoro with bus stop for their grandkids https://t.co/ZF4leSBEKy vía @mymodernmet pic.twitter. Read more
Posted on 21 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Peter Gunn [theme by Henry Mancini, Media Notes 43]
Peter Gunn was a half-hour detective show that aired on national TV from the Fall of 1958 through 1961. I may have watched an episode or three, but I didn’t... Read more
Posted on 20 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
AI Ramble: GPT-3, Chess, Disciplinary Inertia, Intelligence, and Other Things...
So...GPT-3’s got me rethinking AI and other things, like mind, intelligence, and the structure of the world. I remain convinced that GPT-3 is special, but not... Read more
Posted on 19 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Grass Bedding 200,000 Years Ago in South Africa
Lyn Wadley, Irene Esteban1, Paloma de la Peña1, et al., Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa, Science, 4 Aug... Read more
Posted on 19 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Trouble with "top 10" Lists
From an email to a friend: I believe we’ve talked about the silliness of top ten lists and the like. Musical accomplishment is too multidimensional to admit of... Read more
Posted on 18 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The "lost Colony" of Roanoke Wasn't Lost, They Just Moved in with the Locals
Jeff Hampton, ‘The mystery is over’: Researchers say they know what happened to ‘Lost Colony’, The Virginian-Pilot, Aug. 17, 2020. Read more
Posted on 18 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
A SK8 Park for Jersey City: How an Idea Became Real @3QD
My latest piece is up at 3 Quarks Daily, It took 13 years, but Jersey City finally has a poured-concrete SK8park – A story of local grass roots politics. Read more
Posted on 17 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Last Dance [Media Notes 42]
This series, now available on Netflix, follows the career of Michael Jordan by placing it in the context of his final season in the NBA, 1997-1998. Read more
Posted on 17 August 2020 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
