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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Obama’s Eulogy for Clementa Pinckney 4: To Redeem a Nation
Barack Obama: The red, the blue and the United States of America by Charis Tsevis * * * * * I know what I’m doin’ and I’m fearless. – Barack Obama, June 22, 201... Read more
Posted on 24 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Do Colleges and Universities Exist?
Well, sure they do. But the question is what holds them together beyond the physical plant and payment arrangements for students, faculty, and staff. Read more
Posted on 24 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is Slavery the Original Sin of Capitalism and Modernity?
Greg Grandin, Capitalism and Slavery, in The Nation: Slavery created the modern world, and the modern world’s divisions (both abstract and concrete) are the... Read more
Posted on 23 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
PowerPoint Assistant: Augmenting End-User Software Through Natural Language...
Another working paper at Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/14329061/PowerPoint_Assistant_Augmenting_End-User_Software_through_Natural_Language_Interaction... Read more
Posted on 23 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Obama’s Eulogy for Clementa Pinckney 3: The Technics of Grace
The Eulogy was not merely a text, but a performance: what does it do? How does it work? My purpose here is not to engage in the job of hunting for hidden meanin... Read more
Posted on 22 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Music Moves Us
Posted at The Synch Project: 2. Movement: Music Moves You, Even If You Refuse to Dance Humans are one of the extremely few species that can synchronize their... Read more
Posted on 21 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Dan Dennett, “Everybody Talks That Way” – Or How We Think
Thinking things over, here’s the core of my objection to talk of free-floating rationales: they’re redundant. What authorizes talk of “free-floating... Read more
Posted on 20 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Some Tableaus at Wayquay's New Joint
House of Cards Orientalism The Princess Collection Read more
Posted on 20 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is Capitalism Dissolving Around Us?
Paul Mason in The Guardian: Capitalism, it turns out, will not be abolished by forced-march techniques. It will be abolished by creating something more dynamic... Read more
Posted on 19 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Obama’s Eulogy for Clementa Pinckney 2: Performing Black, Three Discussions
My interest in President Obama’s eulogy for Clementa Pinckney was sparked by a conversation between Glenn Loury, an economist at Brown University, and John... Read more
Posted on 18 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Whites of Their Eyes
Nancy L. Segal, Aaron T. Goetz, and Alberto C. Maldonado in the NYTimes: The clear visibility of the sclera is a uniquely human characteristic. Read more
Posted on 18 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Obama I Voted for
Janell Ross in The Washington Post: He's spoken off the cuff about race relations on a widely circulated podcast (even using the n-word) and then eloquently... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Obama’s Eulogy for Clementa Pinckney 1: The Circle of Grace
Make no mistake, it was a remarkable performance. Nominally a eulogy, very much a eulogy. But also a sermon on the past and future of race relations in... Read more
Posted on 16 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Simulating Literary History
Some weeks ago when I sketched out an approach to modeling literary history (in Underwood and Sellers 2015: Beyond narrative we have simulation) I hadn’t yet... Read more
Posted on 15 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
I Love These Images
Why? Because you're right in the middle of them. That's why. It's about depth of field. What's in focus and what's not. And way in the background, blurred into... Read more
Posted on 14 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Dan Dennett on Patterns (and Ontology)
I want to look at what Dennett has to say about patterns because 1) I introduced the term in my previous discussion, In Search of Dennett’s Free-Floating... Read more
Posted on 14 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
#GVM004: The Demolition Chronicles
Here's another working paper, a major statement about contemporary graffiti and its (potential) role in transforming out cities. Read more
Posted on 13 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cultural Negotiations: Jazz and the West in the New Millennium
I've uploaded another working paper (title above). URLs:Academia.edu:... Read more
Posted on 12 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Some Points of Interpretation: Young Girls, Crowns, Graffiti [#GVM004]
This is from the second layer (of three) of graffiti at the northern end of the rear facade of the now abandoned (and soon to be demolished) Pep Boys in the... Read more
Posted on 12 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Once Again: Graffiti, Is It Art?
As often as not that question is asked in a context where the implied answer is, “no, it’s vandalism”. While that IS and important issue, and one that DOES... Read more
Posted on 11 July 2015 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
