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 ( 6831 )
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Looks Like Something out of Miyazaki
But it isn't. It's a night shot of a bodega window that has lighted signage. That's a Corona beer bottle at top and a neon sign for Boar's Head cold cuts at... Read more
Posted on 07 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
It Takes a Village to Be Creative
Late last year I wrote a post about five creative communities: Shakespeare’s theatrical troupe, the Duke Ellington bans, Disney studios (back in the day but, I... Read more
Posted on 07 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Reading Macroanalysis 2: Metadata and the Emperor’s New Clothes
Once I’d gone through the introductory chapters I decided to skip over Chapter 5, “Metadata”, in favor of the real goods in Chapter 5, “Style”. But I was wrong... Read more
Posted on 06 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Travel the World and Get Smart
I want one of these myself: The Royal Explorer's PhD. Offered by The Phd Consultancy, offices in London, Oxford, and Dubai, you have your own handpicked Oxbridg... Read more
Posted on 06 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Reading Macroanalysis 1: Framing: Hyperobjects, Objectification, and Evolution
Matthew L. Jockers. Macroanalysis: Digital Methods Literary History. University of Illinois Press, 2013. x + 192 pp. ISBN 978-0252-07907-8 The book arrived... Read more
Posted on 05 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Working Paper: Reading Morton’s Hyperobjects
I've collected my Hyperobjects posts into a working paper: Reading Morton's Hyperotucts. Abstract: Timothy Morton’s Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after... Read more
Posted on 05 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Making Sense of IQ: A Crude Analogy
What IS intelligence, anyhow? I’m not talking about “intelligence” as in military intelligence, for example; but as in human intelligence or ‘is it possible to... Read more
Posted on 04 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Get On Up with Soul Brother Number One Sex Machine
Go see it, Get On Up, the new James Brown biopic. Yes, it’s a bit long, and a bit disjointed, but see it. It’s got TRUTH leaking out all over. Read more
Posted on 04 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Mind-Culture Coevolution: Major Transitions in the Development of Human Culture...
This is revised from the introduction to a website I put up in the old days of web 1.0, all in hand-coded HTML. Where I’ve since uploaded downloadable versions... Read more
Posted on 03 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
GV003: MES PFE Meets Sylvester by Jerkface
Sylvester by Jerkface Gotta be seen with Sylvester MES PFE joins the party The big brush Splattt!!! Read more
Posted on 03 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Triptych: One World Center as a Ghost Looming Ahead
Posted on 02 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Reading Hyperobjects 7: Objectification and Objects
Note: I’m counting my 3QD piece as #5 and my introduction to that as #6. Let’s begin obliquely, with something I’ve come to think of as Hartman’s Line. Read more
Posted on 01 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Shaky Cam and Free Light
This past week I’ve been experimenting with my “shaky cam” technique: point the camera, start shaking it, and snap the photo. Here’s one of the photos that... Read more
Posted on 01 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Terence Blake on Latour's Modes of Existence
Terence Blake (Agent Swarm) has been following the online progress of Latour's Modes of Existence project, blogging about the ideas and critiquing the process,... Read more
Posted on 01 August 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Duality: Norm Holland on Princess Mononoke
Norm Holland's been watching Miyazaki. Here's his take on Princess Mononoke: There is no “bad guy” in this anime (unlike the usual Disney scenario). Read more
Posted on 31 July 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is There a "good Anthropocene"?
Clive Hamilton speaks to the notion of a "good Anthropocene", one where, by doubling down on science and technology, humankind can come through the next... Read more
Posted on 31 July 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Pattern Update, Connections: Brandt & Ramsay, Jockers & Me, and Goertzel
Three brief notes. The first revisits Ramsay’s work on patterns in Shakespeare and suggests that a concept developed by Per Aage Brandt might augment that work... Read more
Posted on 30 July 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Are We Causing the Sixth Extinction?
Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker, 2009: Over the past half-billion years, there have been at least twenty mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on... Read more
Posted on 30 July 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cultural Evolution is Accelerating
Tim Morton has a post on accelerationism. I made the following comment: From a certain POV the long course of history is accelerating. Read more
Posted on 30 July 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Five Easy Pieces: Race in the Symbolic Universe
Another working paper: SSRN link: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2473235. The five pieces have been previously published on New Savanna, but the introduction is new. Read more
Posted on 29 July 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY