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 ( 7846 )
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Cognitive Science, AI, and Intuition: Or, What’s a Word?
Let’s start with a passage from Douglas Hofstadter, Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies, 1996, pp. 375-375: ...the field of cognitive science... Read more
Posted on 02 April 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Which is Most Like You Current State of Consciousness?
Posted on 01 April 2021
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Wolfram on Consciousness as Narrativity [though He Doesn’t Use the Word]
Stephen Wolfram has some recent remarks on consciousness, What Is Consciousness? Some New Perspectives from Our Physics Project. Read more
Posted on 01 April 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Ted Chiang’s Interesting Thoughts About AI [with Which I Have Some Disagreement]
Ezra Klein recently intereviewed Ted Chiang, perhaps best-known as the author of the story on which Arrival is based. They talked about various things, includin... Read more
Posted on 31 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Does Violent Media Trigger Real Aggression? [seems Not, but More Study Needed]
Two long-term studies designed to prove that media-inspired aggression spreads through people's networks like a contagious disease found not a hint of it.... Read more
Posted on 31 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Penfield's Homunculus Gone Wild
Penfield's humunculus gone wild. The proportions of various animal body parts as found in their corresponding somatosensory maps in the neocortex. Taken from... Read more
Posted on 30 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Practice Makes Perfect [repetition]
Practice “does not consist in repeating the *means of solution* of a motor problem time after time, but in the *process of solving* this problem again and... Read more
Posted on 30 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Queen Anne's Lace
Posted on 30 March 2021
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age [Media Notes 55]
I found these to be strange films. Elizabeth (1998) is set in the late 1550s, and the time of Elizabeth’s rise to the throne and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007... Read more
Posted on 30 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Ann Patchet's True Life Pandemic Story: From Tom Hanks, to Sooki, Chemo, and...
A NYTimes story about Harper's Magazine sent me to a wonderful 20,000 word article by Ann Patchett. It's from the January 2021 issue: These Precious Days. Read more
Posted on 29 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Afterthoughts: Religion, Legitimacy, and Government in America @ 3QD
My latest at 3 Quarks Daily: Religion, Legitimacy, and Government in America, A Just-So Story. I DO like it, but I’m not (totally) pleased. It’s becomes a bit... Read more
Posted on 29 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Six Core Emotional Arcs Determined by Using NLP on 1327 Stories from Project...
Reagan, A.J., Mitchell, L., Kiley, D. et al. The emotional arcs of stories are dominated by six basic shapes. EPJ Data Sci. 5, 31 (2016). https://doi.org/10. Read more
Posted on 24 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
What is Science Fiction? A Quick Note
I stream a lot of science fiction from the web – at the moment I watching Star Trek: Discovery. I find myself asking: What’s this about? Read more
Posted on 23 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Drawing is Like Language and Everyone Can (learn To) Do It
If drawing works like language, then it should be learned the same way: by acquiring the visual vocabulary in your environment. So, the whole idea of “learning... Read more
Posted on 22 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Depression, Spirituality and Jerry Seinfeld
On the first day of this year I had a post about Jerry Seinfeld at at 3 Quarks Daily: Seinfeld On His Craft, Or: Comedy As A Path To Metaphysical Grace. Read more
Posted on 17 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
"Hey Joe" is in the Key of E, with Some Acute Observations on How Instrument...
It seems that there has been some discussion on the internet about the key of Jimi Hendrix's (version of) "Hey Joe." Adam Neely – one of my favorite music... Read more
Posted on 15 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Young Korean Trumpeter Plays a Tune by Lee Morgan ("Ceora")
I've now turned this into a PDF file which you can download here: https://www.academia.edu/37815917/Mind-Culture_Coevolution_Major_Trans... In the early 1970s... Read more
Posted on 13 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Maybe Quantum Mechanics Is, You Know, Just Quantum Mechanics [and All...
The good folks at 3 Quarks Daily have linked to a useful post about quantum mechanics by Scott Aaronson, The Zen Anti-Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Read more
Posted on 12 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Lifestyle Adjustments During the Pandemic
Lifestyle and mental health disruptions during COVID-19 https://t.co/4cX7emjUmC pic.twitter.com/UD47OsNUxa— Dr. David L. Katz (@DrDavidKatz) March 11, Read more
Posted on 11 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Finland is Happiest Country in the World
Despite bone-chilling winters, Finland is the happiest country on Earth. Slimmer wage gaps and government mandates like long-term paid parental leave and free... Read more
Posted on 06 March 2021 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
