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
-
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 ( 7831 )
-
Preserving Democracy: The Crown, S3 E5 Coup [Media Notes 23]
I’ve been watching The Crown, which I think is excellent. In episode five of season three Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister, decided to devalue the pound. Read more
Posted on 02 December 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Adaptation and Exaptation in Escaping Optimisation Traps in Cultural Evolution
One major goal in cultural evolution is to explain why human culture is cumulative and open-ended. However, much of the focus tends to be on processes of... Read more
Posted on 02 December 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is a Reworked Social Media the New Jetpack of the Future?
That is to say, we're living in the Singularity and social media is its most visible and pervasive manifestation. But it's not working all that well, not for... Read more
Posted on 01 December 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Irishman: Dark Forces in America from Top to Bottom, Again [Media Notes 22]
So...I watched it on Netflix, in two sittings. It was long, and slow. It was good, that’s what the reviews said, so it must be so. And it was. Read more
Posted on 01 December 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
SK8er's Gotta Fly Now
Posted on 30 November 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
-
We Got Rhythm: The Magic of the Bell, Swing in a Racing Shell, a Cornerstone of...
This is about and experience that is very important in human society, but that has only recently come been the object of exploration and investigation. Read more
Posted on 30 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Let's Get Wild
Posted on 29 November 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
-
Why Talk About Culture as an Evolutionary Phenomenon?
Wrapping up my recent working paper, Divergence and Reticulation in Cultural Evolution, has brought that question to the fore. I’ve been worrying about it for... Read more
Posted on 29 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Sunk, Beached, Abandoned
Posted on 29 November 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
-
Fake Citrus
Citrus Series by American contemporary painter Dennis Wojtkiewicz (https://t.co/zpVIUwai9C) pic.twitter.com/n07k6bbk21 — 41 Strange (@41Strange) November 29, Read more
Posted on 29 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Street Photography, Like a Batter Hitting a Ball
I often post photographs to Howard Rheingold’s Brainstorms community. Occasionally I’ll make a remark or two. Like this one: I never know what I've shot until... Read more
Posted on 28 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
From Yesterday's Shoot, the (honeyed) Glow of a Gloomy Day [El Greco in Toledo]
Posted on 28 November 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
-
On Reciting "Kubla Khan" from Memory, a Twitter Conversation
Adam Roberts was discussing his trials with the poems of Geoffrey Hill. He tweeted: There are poems from "For The Unfallen" I can recite whole from memory,... Read more
Posted on 28 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Now Trump Has Decided to Corrupt the Military
Geoffrey S. Corn, Rachel E. VanLandingham, The Gallagher Case: President Trump Corrupts the Profession of Arms, Lawfare, 26 Nov 2019: Chief Petty Officer Eddie... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Night and Day: Hoboken's 14th Street Viaduct
Posted on 27 November 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
-
Divergence and Reticulation in Cultural Evolution: Some Draft Text for an Articl...
That's the title of my latest working paper. You can download it here:... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Coupled-group as a Single Unified Cultural Actor, a Brief Note
I have written of a group coupled in music-making as a single actor. There are two aspects to this, physical and intentional. A single physical system When a... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
My Edwin Moses Swatch
That’s his signature on the inside of the watch strap. Moses has won eight gold medals internationally in the 400 meter hurdles and currently has the fifth... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Tyler Cowen on the Difference Between Bricks and Buildings in the Construction o...
Mark Zuckerberg recently hosted Tyler Cowen and Patrick Collison for a discussion on progress; as you may recall, they’d recently issued a call for progress... Read more
Posted on 26 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Mark Liberman on Speech Recognition 26 Nov 2019
Mark Liberman, Shelties On Alki Story Forest, Language Log, 26 Nov 2019. Last week I gave a talk at an Alzheimer's Association workshop on "Digital Biomarkers". Read more
Posted on 26 November 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
