culture

Tim Richards
Monday, April 27, 2009
Evolit Paper 3

"Evolutionary" and "non-evolutionary" genres: a valid divide?

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Just as the oral version of telling stories has evolved over thousands of years since Homo sapiens came along, the invention of the alphabet and the development of written words have since evolved into written short stories and novels. Like the evolution of organisms, gradually, over thousands of years, human communication and the transmission of stories (and now knowledge) have continued to evolve.

Desmond Hubbard

Tuesday, April 14th

NeuroBiology and Behavior

 

Moral Emotions v. Rationality

 

The Concept of Disability

Or, perceiving our differences 

 

An interesting juxtaposition of a visit to Cezanne and Beyond at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a course conversation about "Against Method' in science and "Against Interpretation" in art.  Some thoughts about the latter from an on-line forum ...

Daniel Dennett's book Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life discusses, in great detail, the ramifications of Darwin's theory of evolution on human life and meaning.  While looking over portions of the book again, I found myself wondering more about some of Dennett's ideas and other species of animals.  On page 369, Dennett writes: "The invasion of human brains by culture, in the form of memes, has created human minds, which alone among animals minds can conceive of things distant and future, and formulate alternative goals." (1)  What interests me here is his complete dismissal of other animals as thinking or having culture.  While Dennett certainly makes great, strong points about human culture, even if I do not necessarily agree with him, he jumps stra

On the necessity of believing in the imaginary world: Praising Skyhooks contra Dennett
by Tim Richards