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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Further Thoughts About Cleopatra’s Pumps: A Walk on the Beach (how Romantic)
Last time out – Some thoughts about Cleopatra’s Pumps – I observed that, while I’m primarily a street photographer, many of my shots of the green F me pump are... Read more
Posted on 04 December 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Critique of Critique
Project MUSE - American Book Review-Volume 38, Number 5, July/August 2017 Postcritique forum https://t.co/01OS0OnKU2 — V21 Collective (@V21collective) December... Read more
Posted on 04 December 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
On “the Psychological Reality of Syntax”
David Pereplyotchik at The Brains Blog: When people talk about “the psychological reality of syntax”, there are (at least) two importantly different types of... Read more
Posted on 04 December 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Robert Wright and Judith Shulevitz Discuss Male Sexual Predation
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Judith Shulevitz (The New York Times, The Sabbath World) Bob and Judit... Read more
Posted on 03 December 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Stochasticity in Cultural Evolution: a Revolution Yet to Happen
Billiard, S. Alvergne, A. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences (2018) 40: 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-017-0173-y Abstract Over the last 40 years... Read more
Posted on 02 December 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Tillerson's Folly and the Distinction Between Personal and Public Interests and...
The NYTimes has an article about the damage Tillerson has done to the State Department. The article contains this paragraph: Equally damaging, Mr. Read more
Posted on 01 December 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
California Using China to Pressure Detroit Over Battery-powered Vehicles
In today's NYTimes: China’s push to become a major player in electric cars is already shaking up the global auto industry. California’s governor is hoping it... Read more
Posted on 30 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
President Trump, Thank You! Thank You for All the Women Who Have Come Forward...
Yes, citizen Trump has played a major role in the parade of accusations, albeit an indirect and unintended role to be sure. The president of the United States... Read more
Posted on 30 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Some Thoughts About Cleopatra’s Pumps
How time flies. It was only Friday that I announced my photography project, “Cleopatra’s Shoes, or the F Me Pump”, and already I’m reflecting on it, like I’ve... Read more
Posted on 29 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
For Barack Hussein Obama, Who Was Once Upon a Time The Prez
I wrote this poem well over two decades ago and published it in Meanderings in 1995. Now that we have a black man as President, it seems appropriate to dust if... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
In This Brave New World (the Twitterverse)...
... a mathematician, a philosopher, and a science fiction writer went into a bar... Well, not exactly. As the title says, it was cyberspace. And they didn't go... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
New Savanna Hit a New High on Thanksgiving Day
Here's the stats for the day after: And Thanksgiving Day, the 23th, would be the previous day: 12,262. So we've got: August 11, 2017: 11,109 November 8, 2017:... Read more
Posted on 26 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Paul Bloom on Cruelty and Violence
In The New Yorker: Manne’s analysis can be seen as an exploration of an observation made by Margaret Atwood—that men are afraid that women will laugh at them,... Read more
Posted on 26 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Janet Hays, a Brief Remembrance
I was taking my shower Thursday morning, Thanksgiving day, and thought, “I ought to tell Janet, she’d like that”. I’d just posted something about her husband... Read more
Posted on 25 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cleopatra Enters Rome
This is the scene in Cleopatra, the 1963 historical epic, where Cleopatra enters Rome, where she meets Mark Antony, who would become the love of her life. Read more
Posted on 25 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Cleopatra’s Shoes, Or, the F Me Pump
I recently explained how I found a woman’s shoe on the street and decided to use it as a prop for photographs. That has blossomed into a photography project... Read more
Posted on 24 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Sometimes the Thing to Do is Declare the Problem Solved – and Then, and Only...
First you declare the problem solved and then figure out whether or not you’re right. The order is important, for the declaration is necessary to the set the... Read more
Posted on 24 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Complexity and Technological Evolution: What Everybody Knows?
Vaesen, K. Houkes, W. Biol Philos (2017). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-017-9603-1 Publisher Name: Springer Netherlands Print ISSN: 0169-3867 Online... Read more
Posted on 23 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Explain Yourself, Siri, Or Alex Or Watson Or Any Other AI That Does...
From the NYTimes: It has become commonplace to hear that machines, armed with machine learning, can outperform humans at decidedly human tasks, from playing Go... Read more
Posted on 22 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Been Down So Long a Change is Gonna’ Come [#HEX01]
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me, by Richard Fariña, 1966: “coming on like the Hallelujah Chorus done by 200 kazoo players with perfect pitch... Read more
Posted on 21 November 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
