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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Pre-industrial States
Philip Carl Salzman, Tribes and States, Inference, Vol. 2, No. 1. A basic fact of pre-industrial life is that it is easier to take wealth away from others than... Read more
Posted on 11 June 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Memory Technologies in Worlds Without Writing
Lynne Kelly, writing in Aeon: Cultures without writing are referred to as ‘non-literate’, but their identity should not be associated with what they don’t do,... Read more
Posted on 10 June 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Anthony Bourdain, R.I.P.
Very sad. He was to me the greatest anthropologist. https://t.co/MlgDzWpjlp — Daniel Everett (@amazonrambler) June 8, 2018 When I got up this morning I thought... Read more
Posted on 08 June 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Life on Mars?
NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds Chemical Building Blocks For Life On Mars https://t.co/NjSKJBBfoY pic.twitter.com/dTuaXqZQO9 — David Hulme (@DrDavidHulme) June 7, Read more
Posted on 08 June 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Christmas Songs with Girl Scouts
A couple of years ago, 2014 I believe, a troop of Girl Scouts visited the building where I live and sang Christmas songs in the lobby–I’m told they’d done this... Read more
Posted on 06 June 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Cognitive and Cultural Foundations of Moral Behavior
Purzycki, B. G., Pisor, A., Apicella, C., Atkinson, Q., Cohen, E., Henrich, J., McElreath, R., et al. (2018). The Cognitive and Cultural Foundations of Moral... Read more
Posted on 06 June 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Quantum Mechanics and Visualization
Tim Mauldin has a double book review in the Boston Review, "The Defeat of Reason". One book is about quantum mechanics and the other is about Thomas Kuhn. I... Read more
Posted on 06 June 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Ted Nelson Speaks up
"Here I Stand, at Age 80" (2017)—a candid video memoir by the legendary @TheTedNelson; indispensable computing history https://t. Read more
Posted on 03 June 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Rogan is Going to Have Roseanne Barr on His Podcast This Coming Friday (June 1)
I think moments like this are growing opportunities for our culture. My hope is that we go collectively through each incident like this with a weaker tolerance... Read more
Posted on 31 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Goliath (Amazon Video), a Quick Note
I watched the first four episodes of Goliath last night. I detected echoes of Better Call Saul. Both shows are about lawyers, and both involve one lawyer who... Read more
Posted on 29 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is the Future Being Charted by the Conflict Between Wizards and Prophets?
Writing in Quillette John Faithful Hamer reviews The Wizard and the Prophet (2018) by Charles C. Mann. In The Wizard and the Prophet (2018), Charles C. Read more
Posted on 29 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Louis Armstrong Performs for the Troops
in Pensacola, Florida in 1941. On this Memorial Day, we salute all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. #LAHMDigitization #DailyPops... Read more
Posted on 28 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The World According to Jiujitsu, Joe Rogan on 3QD
I’ve got a piece about The Joe Rogan Experience on 3 Quarks Daily, Grappling at the edges of reality with Joe Rogan, in which I argue the show is fundamentally ... Read more
Posted on 28 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
How the West Was Stolen (USA Vs. First Nations)
Interactive Map Shows the Seizure of Over 1.5 Billion Acres of Native American Land Between 1776 and 1887 https://t.co/XvpjmmuSpc pic.twitter. Read more
Posted on 27 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
"One Pill Makes You..." – Contrasts on a Psychedelic Theme
Charlotte Shane reviews two recent books about psychedelics, Tao Lin, Trip, and Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind. Here's a passage from the end of the... Read more
Posted on 26 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Peace in Our Time?
This photo says it all. Leaders from North and South #Korea meet, embrace, talk. Trump can join or not. The peace train has left the station. #KoreaSummit... Read more
Posted on 26 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Two Notes on Psychedelic Experience (Michael Pollan on Joe Rogan)
Michael Pollan’s just published a book about psychedelic experiences, How to Change Your Mind, and Joe Rogan just had him on his podcast. It’s an interesting an... Read more
Posted on 25 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Joe Rogan Talks with Howard Bloom, Zoooommm!
I couple days ago I was making my regular online rounds when I discovered that Joe Rogan was talking with Howard Bloom THIS VERY MOMENT on The Joe Rogan... Read more
Posted on 24 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Expression of Gratitude Across Cultures
Simeon Floyd, Giovanni Rossi, Julija Baranova, Joe Blythe, Mark Dingemanse, Kobin H. Kendrick, Jörg Zinken, N. J. Enfield, Universals and cultural diversity in... Read more
Posted on 23 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Mad Men
Back when I was watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s I noted that “hey! that’s the Mad Men era.” That is, the film was made in and about the world depicted in Mad... Read more
Posted on 22 May 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
