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 ( 7846 )
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Neuromorphic Computing
From YouTube: Explore a brand new paradigm in computing, and how it might offer faster solutions that can support scientific breakthroughs. [... Read more
Posted on 25 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Ezra Klein and Ross Douthat on the Mystic Destiny of Donald John Trump, and Othe...
I kid you freakin’ not. And the use of “mystic” in this context creeps me out a bit given that I just wrote a piece for 3QD where I recount how I offered... Read more
Posted on 25 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
West Meets East Heavy Metal Meets Konnakol
From YouTube page: If Meshuggah were from India. V Shivapriya and BR Somashekar Jois perform rhythmic phrases set to Mishrachaapu Tala. Remixed by Andre... Read more
Posted on 25 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Weight
“The Weight,” features Ringo Starr and The Band's original member Robbie Robertson, along with musicians across 5 continents. Great songs can travel everywhere... Read more
Posted on 25 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
ChatGPT Plays Around with an Off-color Mona Lisa and Goes Really Surreal!
On April 11 I did a post where Claude 3.7 commented on this image: In this post I’m going to show you what happened when I asked ChatGPT to modify it in... Read more
Posted on 24 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Howard’s Jam II: Go with the Flow Nation
I’m bumping this to the top of the queue on general principle and because the next edition of Howard’s jam is coming up this May 17th. Read more
Posted on 24 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Sabrina Hossenfelder: The AI Revolution Hiding in Obscure Research
Hossenfelder believes that current LLM-based AI is slowly colliding with that wall Gary Marcus has been talking about. I agree with her. We need new paradigms.... Read more
Posted on 23 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Manhattan from Hoboken
Posted on 23 April 2025
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Kidz These Days Seem Stripped of Agency, Don't Know How to Build
Akim Reinhardt, Fly, Be Free, 3 Quarks Daily, April 23, 2025. Reinhardt starts by complaining about over-parenting in the contemporary world, something I've bee... Read more
Posted on 23 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg on Johnny Carson in the Old Days [+ a Recording Session]
Some years ago, in the previous millennium, I had a gig at a recording session involving Nadja. She was recording the Brahms Horn Trio with John Cerminaro,... Read more
Posted on 23 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Rosetta [kidz These Days]
SANT ANDREU DIXIE BAND Marti Costalago trompeta Luc Martin trombon Pere Company clarinete Sander Theuns, saxo alto Pau Garcia piano Asier Vazquez, guitarra Mate... Read more
Posted on 22 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Claude 3.7 Describes a Line Drawing of a Peacock Colored in a Realistic Way
This is another Art Club image. It’s a fairly elaborate one, a peacock. For some reason I decided to color it in a realistic way, or at any rate, in my best... Read more
Posted on 22 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Trapping the Sun
Posted on 22 April 2025
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Strange Time for Purely Digital Beings
Back in December (2024) I did a post entitled: Claude 3.5 Sonnet speculates about future developments in AI and beyond. This post continues that conversation,... Read more
Posted on 21 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Three Views of Hoboken
Posted on 21 April 2025
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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My New-found Patriotism @3QD
Here’s my latest 3QD article: Why I am a Patriot: Vietnam, the Draft, Mennonites, and Project Apollo. The opening paragraphs: Sometime in the past two weeks I... Read more
Posted on 21 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
If the World's a Mess, Don't Blame Donald Trump
Aaron Benanav, There’s a Reason the World Is a Mess, and It’s Not Trump, NYTimes, April 21, 2025. The world is a mess. As President Trump upends global trade... Read more
Posted on 21 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Daniel Pinchbeck's Plot to Save America
Psychonaut Daniel Pinchbeck has an interesting post, "The Plot to Save America," with an interesting lede, "Building a Parallel Society in the Face of... Read more
Posted on 09 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
More Hoboken After Dark
Posted on 09 April 2025
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Rambling into April: 4th Arena, Patriotism, Mystery Box + Stuff
Lot’s going on. Time to sort things out. The Fourth Arena I’m committed to writing a book with the tentative title: Welcome to the Fourth Arena: Homo Ludens... Read more
Posted on 09 April 2025 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
