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 ( 7597 )
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Omelet, Bacon, Fries
Posted on 06 April 2026
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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AI is Changing How Silicon Valley Gets Its Work Done.
Kalley Huang, A.I. Could Change the World. But First It Is Changing Silicon Valley. New York Times, Apr. 2, 1016. But nearly four years after OpenAI lit the A.I. Read more
Posted on 06 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Wichita Lineman, Flea/Nick Cave
“Wichita Lineman” by Flea feat. Nick Cave, from Flea’s album ‘Honora,’ out now on Nonesuch Records: https://flea.lnk.to/Honora Flea — Flumpet Nick Cave — Vocal... Read more
Posted on 05 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Biphasic Sleep Vs. a Continuous 8 Hours
While the soul of this message is true—we shouldn't pathologize every waking moment—the history is a bit more complex.- Biphasic sleep was real. Pre-industrial... Read more
Posted on 05 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cherry Blossoms and Forsythia
Posted on 05 April 2026
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Cosmic Waffles and Looney Tunes in the House That Trump Built
Richard FAusset, No One at Waffle House Remembers FEMA Official Who Says He Teleported In, NYTimes, April 3, 2026. In December, Mr. Read more
Posted on 05 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
From the Metalingual Function of Language to Self-reference
In 1960 the linguist Roman Jakobson published an essay entitled “Linguistics and Poetics,” in a volume edited by Thomas Sebeok, Style in Language (MIT Press, pp... Read more
Posted on 04 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
No Kings! [Don't Forget.]
Posted on 04 April 2026
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Bertrand Russell, The History of Western Philosophy
Tyler Cowen thinks highly of the work of Harold Bloom. In particular he recommends Bloom’s The Western Canon (1994), which is a one-volume conspectus of... Read more
Posted on 04 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Flowers from March
Posted on 04 April 2026
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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NAMC: The New African Music Collective and the Magic of the Bell
It was 1982 or ‘83, perhaps ‘81 or ‘84, I don’t remember exactly. I had gone to Daisey Baker’s, a restaurant in downtown Troy, New York, with Margaret, my best... Read more
Posted on 04 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: A Long Look Back, Potpourri
Posted on 03 April 2026
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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The Hegemon No Longer, the USA as One Nation Among Others
I've long thought that the situation of the post-Soviet collapse, with the USA as the dominant hegemon in the world, I've long thought that situation was... Read more
Posted on 03 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Happiness Crash of 2020
Peltzman, Sam, The Happiness Crash of 2020 (March 13, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6465460 I document a sudden, sharp and historically... Read more
Posted on 03 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
How People Actually Use AI
"ChatGPT is mainly for work"Reality check: Only 27% of ChatGPT usage is work-related. 73% is personal. And the gap is widening every month.The productivity... Read more
Posted on 02 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
More This and That from March
Posted on 02 April 2026
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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AI and Human Happiness
Tyler Cowen interviews Arthur Brooks: Arthur Brooks reckons he’s on the fourth leg of a spiral-shaped career: French horn player, economist, president of th... Read more
Posted on 02 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Anaconda (2025) is Absurd and Hilarious [Media Notes 177]
Two scenes had me laughing as hard as I’ve laughed in a year or three. Wikipedia: Anaconda is a 2025 American action-adventure comedy horror film[5] that... Read more
Posted on 02 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
AI Optimism, AI Pessimism
This is a thoughtful discussion about AI. One discussant, Mike Feinberg, is deeply skeptical. The other, Ben Wittes, is less skeptical, but still wary. Note in... Read more
Posted on 02 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Whale Ropes to the Sky [Adam Roberts]
So, after doing a bit of work this morning, I checked Facebook and saw that my buddy Adam Roberts had posted this: Off dream: I had an unfamiliar laptop, and... Read more
Posted on 01 April 2026 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
