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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From a Big Wave to a Great Wave
Evolution of Hokusai's "Great Wave". 1. When he was 33 (1792).2. When he was 44 (1803).3. When he was 46 (1805).4. When he was 72 (1831). pic.twitter. Read more
Posted on 27 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Importance of Words and Stories: If We Don't Know How to Put It into Words,...
Penelope Trunk, Judge Kavanaugh has taught me so much about how the world works. First four paragraphs: I can’t stop reading about Judge Kavanaugh. I am learnin... Read more
Posted on 26 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Sean Carrolll Interviews David Poeppel About Language and the Brain
Sean Carroll is a physicist at CalTech and Poeppel studies the brain, language, and cognition at NYU and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in... Read more
Posted on 25 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
CFP: Computational Cognitive Science and Digital Humanities [#DH]
For some time now I've been saying that a convergence between computational criticism and cognitive science is a "natural", particularly the computational side... Read more
Posted on 25 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Still, Why Do Literary Critics Find It So Difficult to Focus on Form?
A topic I’ve been thinking about off and on for some time, most recently: Once more, and thinking of ring composition: Why aren’t literary critics interested... Read more
Posted on 24 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Software Sucks! Why?
Nikita writes: I’ve been programming for 15 years now. Recently our industry’s lack of care for efficiency, simplicity, and excellence started really getting... Read more
Posted on 23 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Close-up
Posted on 23 September 2018
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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A Look Under the Hood Through the Insane Musical Genius That is Mnozil Brass
Note: This had been originally posted at 3 Quarks Daily, but it got lost when 3QD moved to a new location. Meanwhile a number of the video clips got thrown in... Read more
Posted on 23 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Courtesies and Seams: My Relationship with David Hays, Teacher, Mentor,...
I’d been planning to write this for some time. Having spent a good bit of time over the last month thinking and writing about the toxic relationship Avital... Read more
Posted on 22 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Extended Network of Humans and Things (ANT) That Constitutes an AI System
If you haven’t already, read this incisive and imaginative account of the vast AI system that makes this possible and so disconcerting: “Alexa, turn on the... Read more
Posted on 21 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Some Varieties of H2O
Posted on 21 September 2018
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Three Modes of Investigation in the Human Sciences: Interpretive, Experimental,...
Three decades ago I prepared a report in which I proposed an interdisciplinary course that embraced what I took to be the three primary modes of investigation i... Read more
Posted on 21 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is Something Rotten in the Heart of Wikipedia?
For example: First, Wikipedia no longer has over 100,000 editors. The number of active editors has been declining for over a decade, even as fewer new editors... Read more
Posted on 20 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Frank Zappa Meets Philly Joe Jones, What a Concept...and There's More!
Frank Zappa, Philly Joe Jones, Earl Freeman, Louis Maholo, John Dyani, Graham Mocnur III and Archie Shepp Jamming (Downbeat Magazine, Jan 1970) pic.twitter. Read more
Posted on 20 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Star Struck and Broken Down: Reflections on the Case of Avital Ronell, Nimrod...
A new working paper, title above, link, abstract, contents, and introduction below. Academia.edu: Read more
Posted on 19 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
For the Love of All That Jazz Is, by What Authority Does Houston A. Baker, Jr....
Yes, in the scheme of things it’s a minor matter, I know. But still. Back in 2005 PMLA published 18 short pieces in honor of Jacques Derrida, who had died the... Read more
Posted on 18 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Trumposaurus Rex @ 3QD – Toward a Cybernetic Interpretation
That’s what my current piece at 3 Quarks Daily is about, Feed Me Donald! – Trump, Musk, The Internet, And Monsters From The Id. I start with Elon Musk’s... Read more
Posted on 17 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Original FAKE NEWS
Jill Lepore, The Hacking of America, NYTimes: Radio, though, was also a tool of tyrants. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, had a device installe... Read more
Posted on 16 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Religion Among Trump Supporters
Ross Douthat, Conservatism After Christianity, NYTimes. The survey was conducted by the Cato Institute’s Emily Ekins for the Voter Study Group, who analyzed... Read more
Posted on 16 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Computer Science Education in K-12
“... why does our computer science education, even in elementary school, look so much like the profession of software engineering? Read more
Posted on 15 September 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
