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 ( 7205 )
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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 -
Xanadu on the Lake: Chicago’s Millennium Park
Conceived in 1997, Millenium Park was officially opened on 16 July 2004. Occupying 24.5 acres in the northwest corner of Chicago’s Grant Park, this new park is ... Read more
Posted on 28 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Overhand Throw is 1.8 Million Years Old
Or at least it could be, based on anatomy. The NYTimes reports:“You’re storing energy in your shoulder,” Dr. Roach said, speaking from Africa, where he was... Read more
Posted on 27 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
What's a Meme? Where I Got My Conception
In the past few years I have settled into a conception of memes (that is, of the cultural analog to the biological gene) as properties of physical objects,... Read more
Posted on 26 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Just WHERE IS Reality Anyhow? The Force of Culture
It seems that the current incarnation of Dr. Who has resigned the job and another replacement is needed. Writing in the New Statesmen, Laurie Penny... Read more
Posted on 26 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Brightness Approaching Monochrome
Posted on 25 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
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More Chimpanzee Grief
Pansy dies:When the scientists at the park realized Pansy’s death was imminent, they turned on video cameras, capturing intimate moments during her last hours a... Read more
Posted on 25 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Stir-fry Memetics
Tyler Cowen has a post at Foreign Policy, The Cookbook Theory of Economics: Why Chinese and Mexican dominate the market. Here's a paragraph Cowen high-lighted o... Read more
Posted on 25 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Red Cabbage, Wet & Dry
Look for fingerprints on some of the leaves. Read more
Posted on 24 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Memetic Changeover: When and Why?
This is going to be quick, I hope, and dirty, I’m sure. What I’m up to is taking the first crude steps toward an argument about why putting memes in the head... Read more
Posted on 24 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Mickey Mouse Gets Shot in Vietnam
Back in 1968 Milton Glaser (National Medal of Arts 2009) and Lee Savage create a crude one-minute cartoon, “Mickey Mouse in Vietnam,” which recently showed up o... Read more
Posted on 24 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Sexual Shame (aka Araki 2)
Thinking about the Akaki exhibit set me to thinking about something that’s puzzled me for a long time: sexual shame. Why are humans secretive about our sexual... Read more
Posted on 22 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The College Biz, Under Fire?
Over the past year or so Joseph Nocera, a NYTimes columnist, has been waging war against the NCAA. He believes, reasonably enough, that Big Time college... Read more
Posted on 22 June 2013 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY