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 ( 7805 )
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Blacks, Blues, and Soul Sickness: Lynching and Racism in the USofA
I've posted this before, about a year ago, but I'm bumping to the top in view of yesterday's 3QD piece about America's cultural psychology. Read more
Posted on 18 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Urban Geometry: Light and Shadows
This is a shot of Manhattan's West side: What interests me is the play of light and shadows. I took the shot in the mid-afternoon with the sun to the South... Read more
Posted on 17 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
It’s Time for America to Reinvent Itself Top to Bottom
But that’s not what I titled this month’s article at 3 Quarks Daily. I gave it a somewhat more provocative title, American Craziness: Where it Came from and... Read more
Posted on 17 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Intention and Reading: Red Chair and Masters of the Universe
What’s going on in that photograph? I know, it’s subjective; you see things differently than I. But I shot it, so I ought to know, but do it? Read more
Posted on 15 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Pedagogical Styles 2: Lectures, and Beyond…
It’s time to follow up my previous pedagogical post, on music and Socrates (that is, coaching and midwifery), with a one on lecturing, a rather different... Read more
Posted on 14 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: The Intersection of Dreams and Reality in Light
I took all of these photos on the same walk, yesterday evening along and near the shore in Hoboken, using more or less the same technique, a long-exposure in I... Read more
Posted on 14 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Dennett's Santa Fe Workshop on Cultural Evolution
In May of this year philosopher Dan Dennett convened a workshop on cultural evolution at the Santa Fe Institute. The following were in attendance: Susan... Read more
Posted on 13 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Spot the Helicopter
Hint: It's near the center, on a border between gold and dark and flying to the right. I wasn't quite quick enough to get it entirely in the gold, which is... Read more
Posted on 12 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Myth-Logic: St. Christopher with the Head of a Dog
It seems that in Orthodox Catholicism St. Christopher is sometimes depicted as having a dog's head. Jonathan Pageau has an interesting article about this. Read more
Posted on 12 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The New as the Remit for Ethical Criticism
Tim Parks in the NY Review of Books: As a reviewer of books she would often pan, Virginia Woolf thought one of the pleasures of reading contemporary novels was... Read more
Posted on 12 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Little Boat (Blind Date), Big River
Posted on 11 November 2014
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Co-Learning and the Fluid Future, Some Quick Remarks on the #etmooc Dialog
I just watched the #etmooc conversation, The Case of #etmooc: and have few quick remarks. Modeling, Vygotsky, learning to learn At one point Rhonda remarked:... Read more
Posted on 11 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Economics of the Transition from Arranged Marriage to Love Marriage in...
Gabriela Rubio of UC Merced, How Love Conquered Marriage: Theory and Evidence on the Disappearance of Arranged Marriages (PDF), abstract: Using a large number o... Read more
Posted on 11 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Flicks from the New Camera
Posted on 10 November 2014
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Apple HAS Become Big Brother
From the NYTimes: DUBLIN — It took nearly 30 years for “The Joshua Tree,” the 1987 album that was U2’s breakout ticket to megastardom, to reach 30 million... Read more
Posted on 10 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Anime Paradox: Why So Many Strong and Imaginative Female Characters When...
One of the attractive features of anime, and manga as well, is the wealth of strong women and girls. Yes, they may be kawaii to the max, but they are also smart... Read more
Posted on 10 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Fossils Falling Like Rain Revolutionize Our Understanding of the Deep Past
Reflecting on fossil finds in the NYTimes, Michael J. Novacek says: New findings accumulate like Olympic records. Here we are, in the age of the microchip and... Read more
Posted on 09 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Britain's Industrial Revolution Was Fueled by Innovation, Not by Coal
Yes, coal for sure. But it took a series of innovations to utilize coal effectively. Among other things. Anton Howes at Capitalism's Cradle: Perhaps the most... Read more
Posted on 09 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Crippled by Arthritis, Renoir Painted Through the Pain
From Open Culture: In this rare footage from 1915 we see the 74-year-old master seated at his easel, applying paint to a canvas while his youngest son Claude,... Read more
Posted on 09 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Terminology for Cultural Evolution: Coordinators and Phantasms
I’ve decided that it is time for some new terms. I’ve been using “meme” as the cultural analog for the biological “gene”, which is more or less the use that... Read more
Posted on 08 November 2014 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
