Bbenzon
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 ( 6833 )
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Ghetto Fabulous, the Soul of Black Folk, and the New Politics That, Alas, Wasn't...
In 1965 the Watts Riot in Los Angeles left 34 dead and gave rise to the Watts Summer Festival. In 1973 Wattstax premiered in LA and all the cool cats, hip... Read more
Posted on 06 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
David Rothenberg Jams with Whales
The NYTimes: In case you are doubtful about all this I can assure you: whales do really sing, but not always the way you might imagine. Read more
Posted on 06 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Mall Culture: Sexy Tomato Wet
Newport Mall in Jersey City, late Sunday morning, when few people are around. Though it's not the people I'm interested in so much as it is the mall itself. Read more
Posted on 05 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Robots R Us: Hawks and Octopii
Robo-hawk: With his Robirds, Nijenhuis had to figure out which parts of flapping-wing flight he could actually simulate. The big concept ended up being... Read more
Posted on 05 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Where's the World Headed & the Rise of Cities, a Quickie
Scotland recently came close to pulling out of Great Britain. What’s that about? As the day of the vote drew near I’d see stories on the theme: If Scotland goes... Read more
Posted on 04 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Adulthood in Flux
I just wanted to point out that yesterday’s post, The Next Level: Universal Children and a New Humanity, is the “other side” of my post, Solitaire (in... Read more
Posted on 03 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Let's Go Exploring!
Posted on 03 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Taalim Tablas: Hoboken Arts & Music, 2014
Tabla players from the Taalim School of Indian Music, performing at the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival, Sept. 28, 2014. Look very closely at the finger... Read more
Posted on 02 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Next Level: Universal Children and a New Humanity
The child is father to the man. –Wordsworth In countless conversations–on the phone, through email, above all, in person–David Hays and I cobbled together a... Read more
Posted on 02 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Camp Meetings, Music, and the Civil War: Some Quick Notes on Culture as a...
According to Robert Fogel (The Fourth Great Awakening the Future of Egalitarianism) what we might call the “spiritual capital” needed to fight the Civil War... Read more
Posted on 01 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Emily Allison Turonis, Hoboken Arts & Music, 2014
I've got more shots of her below, but I want you to look at that one for a few seconds before moving on. There's a quiet dignity and determination: Good old... Read more
Posted on 01 October 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Trust, Building, and a “Personal Learning Network”
PLN? What’s that? “Personal learning network,” you say. Well, OK, but it feels a bit like saying that my legs are my personal locomotion appendages. Read more
Posted on 30 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Just Where is the Mind Located, Anyhow?
We all know that it's in the head and, within the head, in the brain. Beyond that, though, things are a bit murky, as (modern neuroscience not withstanding) we... Read more
Posted on 30 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Dancing in the Streets: Hoboken 2014
Yesterday was Hoboken’s Arts and Music Festival and a good time was certainly had by many. The good news is that there was dancing in the streets. Read more
Posted on 29 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is Western Culture an Illusion?
I published this on The Valve in 2006, but as the following note indicates, it's older than that. It bears on the notion of evolutionary lineage in culture. Read more
Posted on 29 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Of Marshmallows and Will-Power
From The Atlantic: Urist: I have to ask you about President Clinton and Tiger Woods, both mentioned in the book. I’ve heard of “decision fatigue”—are their... Read more
Posted on 29 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
You Too Can Spot Sprites in the Sky for Science
From the NYTimes: Armed with sensitive cameras and radio telescopes, Mr. Ashcraft hunts for sprites — majestic emanations of light that flash for an instant hig... Read more
Posted on 29 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Ring Composition: Some Notes on a Particular Literary Morphology
Another working paper (title above): SSRN page: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2502556 Abstract: Ring-composition is an ancient way of ordering narratives, but it... Read more
Posted on 28 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
What’s It Mean, Minds Are Built from the Inside?
In my recent post arguing that “superintelligent” computers are somewhere between very unlikely to impossible, I asserted: “This hypothetical device has to... Read more
Posted on 28 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Ontology in Perception and Thought
Yesterday I published Redefining the Coming Singularity – It’s not what you think, in which I speculated about the future of computing technology. Read more
Posted on 27 September 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY