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 ( 6820 )
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To the Dark Side
The NYTimes' David Carr documents a shift to the dark side in American TV: "We used to turn on the television to see people who were happier, funnier, prettier... Read more
Posted on 29 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Donald Shirley, Betwixt and Between
The New York Times has an interesting obituary about Donald Shirley, the son of an Episcopal priest who became "a pianist and composer who gathered classical... Read more
Posted on 29 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Gatsby, Then and Now
The New York Times has an interesting article contrasting the original cover art for The Great Gatsby with a new design pitched at the movie remake coming out... Read more
Posted on 27 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
End-of-Life
From at article in The Atlantic Monthly about medical care for people who are dying:Though no one knows for sure, unwanted treatment seems especially common nea... Read more
Posted on 27 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Music Bits: Infants, Synch
Infants Benefit from MusicResearch conducted at McMaster University shows that year-old infants who interact with their parents through music benefit in ways... Read more
Posted on 27 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Strategic Thinking in Jane Austen
The New York Times gives notice of Michael Chwe, Jane Austen, Game Theorist, just published by Princeton University Press. Chwe is a stellar young economist... Read more
Posted on 23 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Criticism and Learning
There are works of art that we like immediately. And those we don’t. What of it?What I’m thinking about is that immediate liking may be based on superficial... Read more
Posted on 23 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
A Myth of Africa: Ritual Structure in Dusk of Dawn
The headnote aside, these notes date back to the 1990s. For those interested in formal matters, this is about ritual patterning in a piece of autobiographical... Read more
Posted on 22 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Religion on the Ground
The New York Times Magazine has a profile of Robert Coogan, a Catholic priest who is chaplain at a prison in Mexico. For all practical purposes by the Zetas, a... Read more
Posted on 20 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Gene Siskel on Dumbo
From his Playboy interview in tandem with Roger Ebert:The movie with the strongest emotional pull of my youth—and it has to do with my psychological... Read more
Posted on 20 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Sinatra on Song
From his Playboy interview in 1963:Sinatra: ... I get an audience involved, personally involved in a song—because I’m involved myself. It’s not something I do... Read more
Posted on 20 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Mad Men: Some Brief Notes
I've been working my way through back episodes of Mad Men–I don't have cable, so I can't watch the current episodes. Interesting show. But what's it about? Read more
Posted on 19 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Celebrity Philosophers: Russell, Sartre, and Comments by Harman
Graham Harman has had two recent posts on celebrity philosophers. The first looks at a NYTimes column on the subject and defends Žižek: he may be a celebrity,... Read more
Posted on 19 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Live Music is Good for Premature Infants
Reported in The New York Times:Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City led the research, conducted in 11 hospitals, which found that live music can be... Read more
Posted on 15 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Automated Grading
By now you've probably read, in one context or another, about the use of computers to grade essay questions. And perhaps you've asked yourself, "How's that... Read more
Posted on 14 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Graffiti: It's the Name That Does It
Henry Chalfant, one of the first to document graffiti, says:"The irony is I think it's the name, the writing your name, which caused it to become universally... Read more
Posted on 11 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Empaths and Gangstas
An old post about an episode from the original Star Trek–"The Empath"–and what it tells us about the cultural psychodynamics of racism.Back in 1988 Jesse Jackso... Read more
Posted on 10 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Neuroaesthetics?
Conway BR, Rehding A (2013) Neuroaesthetics and the Trouble with Beauty. PLoS Biol 11(3): e1001504. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001504Note that here... Read more
Posted on 08 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Animated Acting: Sporn on Tytla
Vladimir Tytla was one of the great Disney animators. He was just before the era of the so-called "nine old men," but is arguably better than any of them. Read more
Posted on 08 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Animated Acting
We all know that Marlon Brando was a Method actor, and that The Method has roots in the work of the Russian director, Stanislavski. You know who else was a... Read more
Posted on 07 April 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY