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 ( 7808 )
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Crazy Lights
Posted on 04 June 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Godzilla Vs. the Pansies (just Kidding About Godzilla)
Posted on 03 June 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Godzilla Minus One [Media Notes 127] {opsis & Vibe}
Godzilla Minus One is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise, which is, I believe the longest running franchise in film. I’ve seen, perhaps, a half dozen of... Read more
Posted on 03 June 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Fashion and Music Meet Gymnastics
https://t.co/hEnzN4Nd6D— Bill Benzon, BAM! Bootstrapping Artificial Minds (@bbenzon) June 2, 2024 From the article: The result was an attention-grabbing blend o... Read more
Posted on 02 June 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Before Setting out on a New Venture You Should Always Eat Breakfast
Posted on 02 June 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Some Notes on How I Discovered Formal Structure in Some Literary Texts, Part 1:...
What is intelligence? How does it work? Those and related questions have been with us for a while, but their salience has been amplified in the wake of... Read more
Posted on 02 June 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
More of My Beloved Irises [urban Pastoral]
Posted on 01 June 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Jurassic World: Chaos Theory [Media Notes 126]
More or less on impulse I decided to watch Jurassic World: Chaos Theory. I had no particular expectations beyond being a bit dubious about the quality of the... Read more
Posted on 01 June 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Why Don't We Dream of Building Perfect Societies Anymore?
Rohit Krishnan asks that question at Strange Loop Canon. He starts with a story: Robert Owen was a Welsh industrialist. Born in Newtown, Owen moved to Mancheste... Read more
Posted on 31 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Friday Fotos: Through the Window
Posted on 31 May 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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Nationalism in Online Games During War
Bilen, Eren and Doghonadze, Nino and Khubulashvili, Robizon and Smerdon, David, Nationalism in Online Games During War (May 20, 2024). Available at SSRN:... Read more
Posted on 31 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Culture, Religion, and Identity: Can't We All Get Along? [Walter Benn Michaels o...
This is from the ancient days, at The Valve (now defunct). It's an extended footnote to: Politics Beyond the Personal: Diversity, Identitarian Rhetoric, and... Read more
Posted on 31 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Domestic Matters, So Colorful (& Better Than Pop-Tarts)
Posted on 30 May 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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We'll Know We've Reached the Mythical "AGI" When We Can Create Autonomous...
Tyler Cowen recently had a conversation with Michael Nielson, which ranged all over the place, as Cowen's conversations tend to do. Read more
Posted on 30 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Jewish Humor: “You Outta Try It, It’s Better Than Ham” [All in the Family] [Medi...
From the YouTube page, in turn taken from here: "A Perfectly Imperfect Eulogy: Archie Bunker’s best friend, Stretch Cunningham, died unexpectedly of a heart... Read more
Posted on 30 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Upstairs Downstairs [not a TV Show]
Posted on 29 May 2024
CULTURE,
PHILOSOPHY,
SOCIETY
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How to Build & Understand GPTs
This conversation runs for over three hours. I've not yet listened to the whole thing. I'm about 2 hours and 15 minutes in, and that's taken me three or four... Read more
Posted on 29 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
Ramble on ChatGPT, GOATLiC, Intelligence, and Stuff
Once again my brain is all jammed up so I’m having trouble getting anything done. Why? Because there are these things I want to do, things I know I should do,... Read more
Posted on 29 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Geometry of Intelligence: From Protein Folding to Language and the...
Fabian Offert, Paul Kim, Qiaoyu Cai, Synthesizing Proteins on the Graphics Card. Protein Folding and the Limits of Critical AI Studies, arXiv:2405. Read more
Posted on 29 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY -
The Metaverse Won't Work Because It Will Be Too Slow for Interpersonal Synch
It has to do with timing lags over the internet. The auditory system is very sensitive. Adam Neely starts explaining at about 5:18, where he's talking about... Read more
Posted on 28 May 2024 CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIETY
