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 ( 7609 )
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Spring in Maplewood, NJ
Posted on 26 December 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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LLM as Collaborator, Part 2: Formal Structure in Heart of Darkness and Literary...
The chart below depicts the length of paragraphs in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The paragraphs are listed in order, first to last, from left to right. Read more
Posted on 26 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Horror! The Horror! A Classical Pianist Improvises: Gabriela Montero
Time stamps: 0:00 A wolf in sheep's clothing 1:58 Improvisation No. 1 6:29 Improvisation No. 2 10:40 Improvisation No. 3 14:54 Martha Argerich's mentorship 16:3... Read more
Posted on 25 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
In Praise of AI Hallucinations: They Help Speed up Research.
William J. Broad, How Hallucinatory A.I. Helps Science Dream Up Big Breakthroughs, NYTimes, December 23, 2024. The public image of science is coolly analytic. Read more
Posted on 25 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Christmas at Longwood Gardens
Posted on 25 December 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Smartphone Photos 2021 Projected to 2026
6/12 With the smartphone photography the number of photos taken every year exploded from billions to TRILLIONS #Smartphones capture 92.5% of all pictures. Read more
Posted on 24 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
FTH Composes a Sonnet Based on a Photograph
Here's my prompt to FTH (aka Fred The Heretic, a ChatGPT-based poetry generator): This photo depicts the southern tip of Manhattan as seen from the docks in... Read more
Posted on 24 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is Trump Becoming Elon's Puppet? [#Elonald]
Amanda Marcotte, Elon Musk can easily use Donald Trump's greatest advantage against him, Salon, December 24, 2024. The more Donald Trump denies he's being... Read more
Posted on 24 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Hiromi's Sonicwonder - Live from Jazz à Vienne Festival (2024) | Qwest TV
From the YouTube page: The Japanese pianist Hiromi matches spontaneity, technique and communication in her sets, possessing the ultimate in serious intent and... Read more
Posted on 23 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
LLM as Collaborator, Part 1: Claude the Graduate Student
I started using ChatGPT on December 1, 2022 and have used it quite extensively ever since. I’ve spent some of my time just poking around, somewhat more time... Read more
Posted on 23 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
On the Beach
Posted on 23 December 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Retirement May Not Be What You Think It is
Hannah Seo, America is doing retirement all wrong, Business Insider, December 11, 2024. When we think of retirement, we often think of endless leisure and zero... Read more
Posted on 23 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Competence and Performance in Benchmarking LLMs
I’ve been hearing complaints about the inadequacy of LLM benchmarks for two years now. So let’s think a bit. Consider this passage from Rodney Brooks, [FoR AI]... Read more
Posted on 22 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is Trump Serious About DOGE Or is It Just a Dodge So He Can Throw $$$$ to Rich...
Heather Cox Richardson, December 21, 2024, Letters from an American. In the end, Congress passed a bill much like the one Musk scuttled, but one of the... Read more
Posted on 22 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Bergen Arches, Home of the Jersey Drones
Posted on 21 December 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet Speculates About Future Developments in AI and Beyond
In this article in 3 Quarks Daily I speculate about the overall course of the universe: Welcome to the Fourth Arena – The World is Gifted. Read more
Posted on 21 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
With Trump and Musk Steering the Ship of State, Expect the Unexpected
Katherine Miller, The Budget Fight and Trump’s Nihilistic Style, NYTimes, Dec. 20, 24. In view of the recent spat over funding the federal government... Read more
Posted on 21 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Is This Why I Like Claude 3.5?
Kevin Roose, How Claude Became Tech Insiders’ Chatbot of Choice, NYTimes, Dec. 13, 2024. Amanda Askell, a researcher and philosopher at Anthropic who is in... Read more
Posted on 20 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Musk is Grokking Bills Posted in Congress [DOGE]
Can’t we already determine a bill’s purpose simply by reading its name and assuming it will do the opposite? đ On a serious note, my staf... Read more
Posted on 20 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Claude 3.5 Sonnet Describes a Scrimshawed Sperm Whale Tooth
What’s this? This appears to be a scrimshaw - an engraved whale tooth or bone, which was a traditional art form practiced by sailors during whaling voyages. Read more
Posted on 20 December 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
