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 ( 6457 )
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Thinking About Language Evolution in the 21st Century
With Some Remarks on Memes, or Dennett Upside Down CakeAbout two years ago Wintz placed a comment on Replicated Typo’s About page in which he lists several... Read more
Posted on 10 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Black White Organic Disseminators
Posted on 09 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Kickstarter Funds More Art Than the National Endowment
Washington Post, Wonkblog:Indeed, people have been saying since last year that Kickstarter funds more art-related projects than the NEA. And it’s true! Read more
Posted on 09 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
"Ue Wo Muite Arukou" 50 Years Later
I've been thinking about how culture is remix. Old stuff is constantly being repurposed, recontextualized, recovered, and redone: REMIX. Read more
Posted on 08 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Ponder This: We Contain Multitudes
Karl Zimmer in the NYTimes is writing about the notion of a minimal genome. What's the fewest number of genes a creature can have and be viable?The human... Read more
Posted on 08 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Information WTF 2: The Candy Itself
I’ve already written one post in which I express skepticism about information-talk: Culture Memes Information WTF! I fear, alas, that it’s time for another. Read more
Posted on 06 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Social Evolution Forum
I was browsing around at Tim Tyler's memetics blog and came across a link to Social Evolution Form. From the About page:EDITORS: Michael Hochberg Scientific... Read more
Posted on 05 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cultural Evolution: Some Terminology
Terminology is important, and pesky. I am in need of at least two terms, terms for which I have a technical use. I also dislike coining new terms. Read more
Posted on 03 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Life is Inevitable
Karl Friston. Life as we know it. J. R. Soc. Interface 6 September 2013 vol. 10 no. 86 20130475Abstract: This paper presents a heuristic proof (and simulations... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Review Essays on the Origins and Evolution of Human Culture
I've placed another document in my SSRN page: Three Evolutionary Pieces. In consider the following books in three essay reviews:(1) Steven Mithen, The Singing... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Dawkins on Stability
Or, is Dawkins a Proto Object-Oriented Ontologist?By the times I had finished up with Beethoven’s Anvil I had concluded that, before we can think about... Read more
Posted on 02 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Sensorimotor Transition in Three Modes
Just yesterday I reported research indicating that both birds and human infants devote considerable time to learning how to switch between one sound and another. Read more
Posted on 02 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Memetic Mind, Not: Where Dennett Goes Wrong
On the face of it, Dennett and I have very different views about cultural evolution. To be sure, we both believe that Dawkins’s initial insight is valid: that... Read more
Posted on 02 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Infants Learn to Babble Like Birds Learn to Sing
From the NYTimes:Researchers who focus on infant language and those who specialize in birdsong have teamed up in a new study suggesting that learning the... Read more
Posted on 01 July 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
We Took 380 Billion Photos Last Year
According to this Google report (PDF), that's 10% of the photos ever taken.WOW!Will there ever be a year in which the number of photos effectively doubles? Read more
Posted on 30 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Bleg: Do Memes Matter to You?
For those doing or training to do academic research on linguistic and/or cultural evolution: Do memes matter to you?I've got the impression that the issue that... Read more
Posted on 30 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Universal Emotions No More?
Paul Ekman became famous for studies showing that humans experience a relatively small number of emotions that are the same across cultures. Psychologist Lisa... Read more
Posted on 30 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Does Bhutan's Proclaimed Happiness Rest on an Act of National Cruelty?
Viduyapati Mishra writes in the NYTimes:After tightening its citizenship laws in the mid-1980s, Bhutan conducted a special census in the south and then proceede... Read more
Posted on 29 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC to Be Rebuilt?
It's been years since I took a bus through NYC's Port Authority Bus Terminal, decades in fact. My memories are dim, and not very favorable. It's even worse... Read more
Posted on 28 June 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL -
Three Quick Notes on Harman
Graham Harman has just published An outline of object-oriented philosophy, Science Progress, Volume 96, Number 2, June 2013, pp. 187-199(13). It's available... Read more
Posted on 28 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY