This is great news re the bird brain! I always suspected such in the bird. They are obviously so clever - you only need to watch them briefly to suss it. This thing about the bird song being passed along through tens of millions of years is a balm! Thanks for this Max - it is trilling in my ears - and is like manna from heaven when it comes to what L and B might get up to!!!
Simon On 3 Jul 2021, at 20:18, Max Herman via NetBehaviour <netbehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org> wrote: > Hi Alan, > > I like your photo and phrasing here! The line of soil reminded me of the > water horizon in the Mona Lisa, which I've been studying as it is a bit > unusual. > > Not sure if this is part of your poem, but I've been looking at weaving as a > motif and theme in Dante and Leonardo (possibly linked) and found the very > interesting, to me anyway, etymological factoid that "technology" and "text" > both derive from the Proto-Indo-European "teks-" which means "to weave." > Dante references the Fates and spinning often, and situates an allegorical > garment associated with Circe in a central dream sequence of the Commedia > (Purgatorio 19.1-33). The dream is a little difficult to parse, with some > incongruent elements and very unpleasant undertones of medieval misogyny, and > might signify little more than Dante's own ambivalence or contempt toward > romantic love. I believe that Leonardo may have reinterpreted the dream > sequence with some interesting and worthwhile revisions. > > Re birds I was given a copy of Jennifer Ackerman's 2016 book on bird > intelligence this summer and have been meaning to read it. The cover > illustration may be a type of jay, not sure, and the first illustration is of > a finch or sparrow perhaps drinking from a human-made vessel similar to what > motivated me to write a song in 2019. The book says, > > "[T]he avian brain had no cortex like ours, where all the 'smart' stuff > happens. Birds had minimal noggins for good reason, we thought: to allow for > airborne ways; to defy gravity; to hover, arabesque, dive, soar for days on > end, migrate thousands of miles, and maneuver in tight spaces. For their > mastery of air, it seemed, birds paid a heavy cognitive penalty. > "A closer look has taught us otherwise. Birds do indeed have brains very > different from our own--and no wonder. Humans and birds have been evolving > independently for a long time, since our last common ancestor more than 300 > million years ago. But some birds, in fact, have relatively large brains for > their body size, just as we do. Moreover, when it comes to brainpower, size > seems to matter less than the number of neurons, where they're located, and > how they're connected. And some bird brains, it turns out, pack very high > numbers of neurons where it counts, with densities akin to those found in > primates, and links and connections much like ours. This may go a long way > toward explaining why certain birds have such sophisticated cognitive > abilities.... > "News has arrived that songbirds learn their songs the way we learn languages > and pass these tunes along in rich cultural traditions that began tens of > millions of years ago, when our primate ancestors were still scuttling about > on all fours." > > All best, > > Max > > > > > > From: NetBehaviour <netbehaviour-boun...@lists.netbehaviour.org> on behalf of > Alan Sondheim <sondh...@panix.com> > Sent: Saturday, July 3, 2021 2:00 AM > To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity > <netbehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org> > Subject: [NetBehaviour] Bluejay > > > > Bluejay > > http://www.alansondheim.org/bluejay.jpg > > There is stasis in the feet, the claws, the post. > An imminent moment of invisible, internal tension. > The spring, the lift. > Nothing cries out in the beginning, throughout, beyond. > Silent in the middle of the city, perhaps no nest. > In the eaves, creatures. > It's the _tension_ of the bird, it's ours. > The weather worsens everywhere. > Canada O Canada. > The jay is _here_ not there, time looms, ours. > We are responsible for time, for _this._ > We _loom._ > > Faster than us, we await, apocalyptic. > The apocalypse is a spiral, the jay is gone. > The post is gone, the city is gone. > The spring, when will weather worsen. > The edge of the when, the when. > > > ___ > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
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