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 ( 7628 )
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Mnozil @3QD, Plus Notes on Repertoire and Comedy
My latest 3QD piece went up on Monday, A look under the hood through the insane musical genius that is Mnozil Brass. I took some of the pieces I’ve written... Read more
Posted on 07 March 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Longue Durée of Human History is Complicated
Conventional wisdom has it that over the course of, say, the last 50,000 years or so, human society evolved from small egalitarian bands of hunter-gatherers... Read more
Posted on 03 March 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Scot Peterson's Reluctance to Go Charging in to Confront the Parkland Shooter...
Joshua Holland, A Former SWAT Operator Says the Cop Who Stood Outside Is Another Victim of the Parkland Massacre, The Nation. First: By all accounts, Scot... Read more
Posted on 02 March 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Turning Schools into Prisons is Not a Good Idea
Here's a note that Alex Tabarrok (Marginal Revolution) sent to the principal of his son's high school before the Parkland shooting: Dear Principal _____, Thank... Read more
Posted on 28 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
A Computational Perspective on Mood
Clark JE, Watson S, Friston KJ. What is mood? A computational perspective. Psychological Medicine, February 2018. https://doi.org/10. Read more
Posted on 27 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Are We Approaching a Tipping Point on Gun Control?
Tyler Cowen seems to think so. His latest column for Bloomberg View is entitled "Why Gun Laws May Finally Change: Kids Are Leading". Read more
Posted on 27 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Political Economy of Black Panther's Wakanda
Subrick, J. Robert, The Political Economy of Black Panther's Wakanda (February 25, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3129750 Abstract: Black... Read more
Posted on 26 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Kids Dancing
Posted on 24 February 2018
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Dance to the Music: the Kids Owned the Day
You've seen Dancing with the Stars, and such? Well that's the top of a pyramid. this post from five years about is about what's more or less at the base of... Read more
Posted on 24 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
What Are the Implications of the 5Pointz Decision?
In the NYTimes: Last week, a federal judge, Frederic Block, may have established legal precedent to the unwritten code. Jerry Wolkoff, the developer who owns th... Read more
Posted on 20 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Straying into Mnozil Territory?
From the accompanying article in the NYTimes: Michael Landers and Ariel Hsing, table tennis champions in their early 20s, are featured as the Ping-Pong-playing... Read more
Posted on 20 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Kiddie Lit
Back in the middle of 2006 I’d blogged about Kiddie Lit. I’m republishing that post because it’s relevant to my interest in Disney’s Fantasia and, in particular... Read more
Posted on 19 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
First CAD Drawing at Boeing Were Scratched on Aluminum Sheets by 3D Milling...
One for #plottertwitter: Norman Sanders describes how the first satisfactory hard copies of CAD drawings were in fact engraved onto sheets of alumin(i)um, at th... Read more
Posted on 16 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
"Lolita" – in Life and in Fiction
Bindu Bansinath writes about how Nabokov's Lolita gave her a script which she followed to escape her molester. A few paragraphs: Over time it became harder to... Read more
Posted on 16 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Some Notes on the Inspired Insanity of Mnozil Brass
I don’t know when I first discovered the Mnozil Brass, but I’ve been listening to them for a number of years now. They’re brilliant, but just what they do,... Read more
Posted on 14 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
State-dependent Cognition and Its Relevance to Cultural Evolution
Daniel Nettle, State-dependent cognition and its relevance to cultural evolution, Behavioural Processes, Available online 5 February 2018: Abstract:... Read more
Posted on 11 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Rebirth of Mind and Society: Jaynes and Nietzsche
The passage that follows is from the opening of Chapter 10: “Music and Civilization” of my book, Beethoven’s Anvil: Music in Mind and Culture (pp. 222-226). Read more
Posted on 09 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
SpaceX Synchronized Booster Landing, Amazing!
Wow. SpaceX boosters successfully return to base, and in perfect synchrony. Oh, and there's now a Tesla Roadster in space. https://t.co/Kjf4pMJnaw.... Read more
Posted on 07 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The BBC Reports, Women Are Saying...
A simple message to the world from every woman ever... 👊#TheMashReport @EllieJaneTaylor pic.twitter.com/lt2oke7E05 — BBC Two (@BBCTwo) February 5, Read more
Posted on 07 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Which Neoliberalism Do You Mean?
"Neoliberal" has become the catch-all curse-world of the political left. But it has a complex genealogy dating back to the late 19th century, which is sketched... Read more
Posted on 05 February 2018 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
