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 ( 7275 )
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What About Math, Anyhow?
How is that math, a product of the human mind, manages to describe the world so well? Perhaps because, when asking that question, we pick and choose just what... Read more
Posted on 11 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Humanists & Scientists – Get a Life!
By now you’ve heard the news: Steven Pinker’s tried to offer some friendly advice to humanists and folks are all in a tizzy. Um, err, guys and gals, his bark... Read more
Posted on 11 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
We Are Creatures of Light
spaceI love it when flowers and lightdissolve into one another. As thoughthey were the same thing.Which – of course – they are. Read more
Posted on 11 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
21st C = Von Neumann * Armstrong^2
I wrote this a some time ago. IBM is no longer on the ropes, as it was at that time. But it hasn't regained its past glory either. That is gone, perhaps... Read more
Posted on 10 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Walt Disney: A Career in Three Acts
Republished from The Valve, April 3, 2007.We have recently been blessed with two comprehensive biographies of Walt Disney. Neal Gabler's Walt Disney: The Triump... Read more
Posted on 10 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
JC RGB Lincoln Tunnel Ho!
Posted on 10 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
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Xena More Real Than the Fashion Industry
When she was 14 Jennifer Sky became a fashion model, thereby entering a world of abuse and exploitation. In her early 20s she got a six-week role in “Xena:... Read more
Posted on 10 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Does 'traveling Salesman' = 'connect the Dots'?
The traveling salesman problem is a well-known problem: A salesman has to make X stops. Of all the routes he can take, which is the shortest one? Read more
Posted on 09 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
There is No Theory of Everydamnthing, Get Over It
Philip Kitchner, Things Fall Apart (yes indeed they do!), The New York Times:Thinkers in the grip of the Newtonian picture of science want a general basis for... Read more
Posted on 09 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Neuroaesthetics
Given my longstanding interest in the arts and in the brain you’d think I’d be interested in something called neuroaesthetics, wouldn’t you? Well, in principle ... Read more
Posted on 08 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Free Films Online
Open Culture (“the best free cultural educational media on the web”) has links to 550 films that are available free online in one place or another. Read more
Posted on 08 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
A Century of Vanity, Or Wodehouse is Effin' Brilliant
While I'm aware that a magazine called Vanity Fair exists, keely aware of it as a matter of fact, I don't read it regularly. But it does flit by me every now an... Read more
Posted on 06 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Elephant Regression: On the Couch with Dumbo
That post-in-progress on Unity of Being in Fantasia and Dumbo? the one that prompted me to mount an informal defense of psychoanalytic thought? – you guessed it... Read more
Posted on 04 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Beyond Reading
The Valve reaches out again, this time from 28 December 2005. I'd pay particular attention to those excerpts from Hartman, as such sentiments are deeply embedde... Read more
Posted on 03 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
From Mere Reading to Intepretive Reading
The point of this post is simple: The interpretation of literary texts is something we must be taught. It is not "natural." Though, by convention, it is often... Read more
Posted on 02 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
De Man, Fish, and Simulation
This is the third post from my tryout at The Valve. It appeared there in mid-December of 2005. The two footnotes, however, are new. Read more
Posted on 01 September 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Episode Order in Fantasia: Revealing the Human Mind (Revised)
I originally posted this in November of 2011. I’m reposting a somewhat revised version. I’ve added more discussion of the intermission and some speculation... Read more
Posted on 31 August 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
A New York Times Tour of Street Art in NYC
Here's the link.Over the last decade, the city, like many dense metropolises around the world, has become a paradise of art on the streets, a legacy —... Read more
Posted on 30 August 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
From Frye to the Buffisstas, with a Glance at Hermeneutics Along the Way
This is another post from Ye Olde Valve, my second as I recall. I was still in my audition period, strutting my stuff so the Valvists could see whether they'd... Read more
Posted on 30 August 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Citizen Science: Crowdsourcing Bird Populations in Real Time
The New York Times:Mr. Martinka, a retired state wildlife biologist and an avid bird-watcher, is part of the global ornithological network eBird. Read more
Posted on 30 August 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY