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 ( 7356 )
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Friday Fotos: Electric Tree
Posted on 23 February 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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The Role of Philosophical Thinking in Understanding Large Language Models:...
Let’s start with some conception of what philosophy is. On that I like an essay by Peter Godfrey-Smith, a philosopher of science with a particular interest in... Read more
Posted on 22 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Dream Flowers
Posted on 22 February 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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ChatGPT Interprets Two Short Texts by Coleridge
I present ChatGPT with two short texts by Coleridge: 1) a fragment from the collection, Anima Poetae, edited by his grandson, Ernest Hartley Coleridge, and 2)... Read more
Posted on 22 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Synthesizing Mind: Steve Pinker Interviews Howard Gardner
From the YouTube page: With Howard Gardner's memoir "A Synthesizing Mind" as a point of departure, Steven Pinker will ask Gardner to review his varied... Read more
Posted on 22 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
My Use of ChatGPT in My Intellectual Work
I recently posted this note to an online community, Brainstorms, hosted by Howard Rheingold (whom I address in the final paragraph):I've spent a LOT of time... Read more
Posted on 22 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
As Goes Harvard, So Goes the American University System?
Anemona Hartocollis, At Harvard, Some Wonder What It Will Take to Stop the Spiral, NYTimes, Feb. 20, 2024. Opening paragraphs: When 70 university presidents... Read more
Posted on 21 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Cabbage
I originally posted this in 2012. I'm bumping it to the top both on general principle and to change things up. The photo above (somewhat photoshopped),... Read more
Posted on 21 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Dance is Effective in Relieving Depression and Anxiety
Barnish MS, Nelson-Horne RV. Group-based active artistic interventions for adults with primary anxiety and depression: a systematic review. BMJ Open... Read more
Posted on 21 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
For What It’s Worth [How Culture Works]
“For What It’s Worth” was released in December of 1966. I don’t know when I first heard it, but probably soon after it was release. It was an important song, an... Read more
Posted on 21 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
And the Walls Came Tumbing Down: St. Francis Hospital in Hamilton Park, Jersey...
Posted on 20 February 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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ChatGPT Plays the Beheading Game [Happy Trails]
Yesterday it was Jaws and game theory, today it’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (henceforth SGGK). But really, the sequence runs in the opposite direction. Read more
Posted on 20 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Jailhouse Write! Riker's Island Has Become an Incubator for Literary Production
Corey Kilgannon, How a Notorious Jail Became a Literary Hotbed, NYTimes, Feb. 18, 2024. A female inmate falls for a handsome guard. He’s really a former con... Read more
Posted on 20 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Game Theory, Jaws, and Girard, with an Assist from Lévi-Strauss: A Quick Sketch
While thinking about the next installment in my series on great literary critics (which has become another inquiry into the nature of literary criticism), I... Read more
Posted on 19 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Green Adventure [Jersey City]
Posted on 18 February 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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The Jolly Green Giant Chronicles [ChatGPT]
At the end of December, on the 30th, I gave ChatGPT the following prompt: What happened when the Jolly Green Giant had a colorless green idea after eating a ste... Read more
Posted on 18 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Suits – Bass Ackwards [Media Notes 112]
Over the years I’ve watched a fair number of law shows, from The Defenders way back, through L.A. Law, on to Ally McBeal, more recently Boston Legal, The Good... Read more
Posted on 18 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
SUPER MARIO THEME, in the Styles of 6 Classical Composers
00:00 Original Theme by Nintendo (Koji Kondo) 00:31 In the style of J.S. Bach 01:00 In the style of Mozart 01:31 In the style of Beethoven 01:55 In the style... Read more
Posted on 18 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
One AI Critiques Another
@Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro watches and critiques a video made by @OpenAI SORA. pic.twitter.com/ZPBHHYUh3K— Gabor Cselle (@gabor) February 17, 2024 Here's what... Read more
Posted on 17 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
More Selfies, More Thoughts
Here’s some more selfies. Though artists have been doing self-portraits for centuries, and people have been using cameras to take pictures of themselves for, I... Read more
Posted on 17 February 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
