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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Why Identity Politics? Because the Left Has Given up on Everything Else.
Writing in the Guardian, Kenan Malik reviews Mark Lilla, The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics. We've got a problem: Between them, Lilla and his... Read more
Posted on 17 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Two Observations on Wealth
John Waters’ Graduation Speech: Real Wealth is Never Having to Spend Time with Assholes https://t.co/dxdNPfn7xI pic.twitter.com/R1bE5ZjmcO — Open Culture... Read more
Posted on 17 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The City-state Redux
Jamie Bartlett, in Aeon: Until the mid-19th century, most of the world was a sprawl of empires, unclaimed land, city-states and principalities, which... Read more
Posted on 16 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Zero Dated to 3rd Century CE
From Oxford: Although a number of ancient cultures including the ancient Mayans and Babylonians also used the zero placeholder, the dot’s use in the Bakhshali... Read more
Posted on 15 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Jamming for Peace
This is 14 years old, but worth re-posting. It's about the power of music to make strangers into a community. It was Saturday, March 22, 2003, the day of the bi... Read more
Posted on 15 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Lawfare on Impeachment in the Context of the Contemporary Presidency
Bob Bauer (former White House Counsel to President Obama) observes: The presidency in its current form is, in many respects, something of a constitutional... Read more
Posted on 15 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
We Have Met the Enemy and the Enemy is Us
a human byte (1974) pic.twitter.com/REp34NlSOb — James Ryan (@xfoml) September 14, 2017 an illustration for Harper's Magazine of a line of computer-generated... Read more
Posted on 15 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Urban Pastoral with a Painted Elephant
Posted on 15 September 2017
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Tim Morton’s Maxims
Shortly after Hurricane Harvey had moved through Houston, Tim Morton, who lives there, was interviewed for a Cultures of Energy podcast. During the interview... Read more
Posted on 15 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Appalachian Soul
From Richard Crawford, America’s Musical Life: A History, Norton 2001, p. 156:In 1933, George Pullen Jackson . . . published a book – White Spirituals in the... Read more
Posted on 14 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Automating Image Culture [#DH]
Lev Manovich, Automating Aesthetics: Artificial Intelligence and Image Culture:... Read more
Posted on 14 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Limitations of an Academic Literary Criticism Centered on Meaning, Or, What...
I have written extensively about the limitations of the current discipline of literary criticism [1]. The discipline is focused on interpreting the meaning(s) o... Read more
Posted on 13 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Like Getting Hit in the Gut with a Falling Apple
So when Newton said this thing about playing on the seashore, was he being metaphorical? Or was he being [*clears throat*] littoral? pic.twitter. Read more
Posted on 13 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Virtual Reading: The Prospero Project Redux [#DH]
I've uploaded another working paper. Title above, abstract, table of contents, and introduction below. Note that it's a long way through the introduction, but... Read more
Posted on 12 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Why I’m Just Now Seeing a Quickening in The Force (in Lit Crit, #DH)
A short time ago I posted the following tweet: But you know, I've been observing the scene for a LONG TIME, and I sense a disturbance in the Force, a Quickening. Read more
Posted on 11 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Experienced Observation (& Another Brief for Description as the Way Forward in...
My friend and colleague, John Wilkins, philosopher of biology extraordinaire, has just run-up a wonderful post, 50 words for snow, or conceptual confusion – and... Read more
Posted on 11 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Bleg: Beyond/Beneath the Nation-State
This stuff is much on my mind these days. If anyone has any suggestions, please pass them on. Back in September, 2012, I put up a post in which I asserted, by... Read more
Posted on 10 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Leo P. WAILS on the Baritone Sax, Dances Too
I came across this clip by accident. Well, not really I suppose. YouTube probably served it up to me because its AI informed it that it's my cup o' tea. Which i... Read more
Posted on 10 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Honor to Serve, A Short Note About NCIS
Episode 13 in the first season of NCIS is called “One Shot, One Kill”. It opens in a video game arcade where some teen-aged boys are blown away by the skill of... Read more
Posted on 09 September 2017 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Five Recent Flix of Various Subjects
Posted on 08 September 2017
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
