Extended Mind
Notes
Claim
The extended mind theory is that our thinking capabilities are not limited to the biological organ of our Human Brain, but rather some of it relies on the Actions and meaning depend on situational and environmental circumstances and Social environment shapes behavior and identity through norms and conformity we are in.
Explanation
We can separate it into:
- Thinking with others - The process of Deliberation is a discussion that bridges different perspectives and debating with others helps us to develop our thinking. We are exposed to different point of views, detect weaknesses in our arguments, and are "forced" to spend more time developing our thoughts because we face resistance. Peer support enables collaborative growth through shared feedback and mutual learning
- Thinking with nature - having Nature restores mental health and renews focus through immersive presence or even just some Solitude enables introspection and deep cognitive work allows us to enter a different mental state, activate our Relaxation activates inward thinking for creative problem-solving.
- Thinking with our bodies - The Physical states and actions unconsciously shape beliefs and behavior means that what we do with our bodies affect the mind and vice versa. By being more physically active, by trying to explain things with our hands, or move as we think, we can unlock new ways of thinking. The mind and body are separate
- Thinking with technology - We can use external devices to augment our thinking. This could be through One-time effort investment yields future benefits, where we develop an idea across time, each session dedicating our full attention such that it can benefit from increased cumulative mental effort. Some say that writing also increases our thinking by forcing us to come up with a logical sentence describing our thoughts. Technology can also be our editor, with the advancement of AI tools LLM that can help us use best practices to criticize, edit and offer improvements to our thoughts, similar to thinking with others.
Why it matters
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Overview
🔼Topic:: Working Memory and Cognitive Limits 🔼Topic:: Working Memory and Cognitive Limits ↩️Origin:: The extended mind (book) 🔗Link::