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 ( 7637 )
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Beliefs About Local Impact of Climate Change Affect Beliefs About the...
Astrid Dannenberg Sonja Zitzelsberger, Climate experts’ views on geoengineering depend on their beliefs about climate change impacts, Nature Climate Change... Read more
Posted on 30 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cuban Music of Several Styles [a Network, Not a Tree]
Shannon Sims (text), Discovering Cuba, an Island of Music, NYTimes, Sept 29, 2019: Just an hour’s flight from the United States, Cuba is drenched in music. Read more
Posted on 30 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
From Roman War Chariots to the Gauge of US Railroats
From Snopes.com: The US standard railroad gauge (width between the two rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Read more
Posted on 28 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
To J. Hillis Miller, 2019: On the State of Literary Criticism
A new working paper, title above, abstract, table of contents, and introduction below. Download at: Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/40466672/To_J. Read more
Posted on 28 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Am I Blue? Not When I'm Orange!
When I leaned that today's theme was going to be "selfie" I thought, WTF! I don't do selfies. And I don't. But since I decided to join this bit of fun I... Read more
Posted on 28 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cultural Evolution: Expressive Culture Before Practical Practical Culture
The ‘collective mind’, the mesh, the cultural reticulum (to use my current technology) is the medium in which culture evolves. By that I mean the “connected”... Read more
Posted on 27 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Billionaires: What They Want, What They're up to
That's why there was so much plutocrat rage against Obama: despite the mildness of his rhetoric, they suspected him of not seeing them as the economy's heroes... Read more
Posted on 27 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Variations in Light and Dark on 'natural' Subjects
Posted on 27 September 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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I Took a Day off from Blogging: More on Regulating the Mind [in the Zone]
Actually it’s two: no blog posts on Tuesday the 24th and Sunday the 22th. If I were in a down phase, as I usually am in the Spring, that would be normal. Read more
Posted on 26 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Inequality Plagues AI Research
Steve Lohr, At Tech’s Leading Edge, Worry About a Concentration of Power, NYTimes, Sept 26, 2019: Computer scientists say A.I. Read more
Posted on 26 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Possibility of Permanent Settlements on Mars
On February 11, 2018, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson delivered a presentation at the World Government Summit held annually in Dubai, UAE. His presentation... Read more
Posted on 26 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
African AI
Dave Gershgorn, Africa Is Building an A.I. Industry That Doesn’t Look Like Silicon Valley, Medium, Sept. 25, 2019: Deep Learning Indaba has become connective... Read more
Posted on 26 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Wild Flowers from Yesterday's Shoot
Posted on 25 September 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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It’s That Time of Year Again. [Yawn] The MacArthur Fellows Have Been Announced...
And no doubt they are a worthy bunch. But the foundation keeps doing it, by which I mean they award the majority of their Big Mac fellowships to people who... Read more
Posted on 25 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Into the Jungle: Yesterday's Walk in Liberty State Park
Posted on 23 September 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Should There Be a Limit on How Much Income a Wealthy Person Can Hold?
Ingrid Robeyns asks that question at Crooked Timber, The most blasphemous idea in contemporary discourse?, Sept. 21, 2019: I have no idea how he found it, but... Read more
Posted on 23 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Speech as Computation [Trump's Speaking]
Posted to Language Log as a comment to a post on Trump’s 'incoherence' while speaking: If I might indulge a current hobby horse, I've been playing with the... Read more
Posted on 23 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Splish Splash
Posted on 21 September 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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The Value of Handwriting, It's Good for Memory, Mind, and Soul
Hetty Roessingh, Why cursive handwriting needs to make a school comeback, The Conversation, August 23, 2019: Beyond a nostalgia for the pre-digital age, there... Read more
Posted on 21 September 2019 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: From Jersey City to Hoboken Via the Light Rail
Posted on 20 September 2019
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
