What is the extended mind?

Author : Aysu Sultanli

The extended mind essentially means to think outside the brain. As the philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers state,

We don’t only think with our brains, we think with the world around us.

It isn’t a shock that the brain is wired and complex. However our brains isn’t the only thing we think with. When contemplating, we think with our bodies, the spaces we learn and grow in , along with the opinions of other people. Some people view the brain as a computer that processes information, when in reality it is so much more than that.

Let me ask you a question, when was the last time you used a printed map, and not a virtual map?

Most of us would not even remember the answer to this question. In the modern world, our phone,in a way, is a part of the extended mind. Before google maps, people used to remember roads, navigation and keep it all in their minds. But now that is unnecessary, since there are a million navigation apps that will do that for you. This makes our life easier, and frees up space in our memory, but makes us depend on technology. So if our navigation system is in our phones, transferred from our memories - our phone is the continuation of our mind. This proves that our mind isn’t only located in our brain, but extends to the outer physical world.

During covid all of us were brainstorming in front of screens. The transfer of information from one brain to another is the most limited way of learning which was distributed around the world with the use of online education. Getting information from one source isn’t how any of us learn in the long run, and the lack of activity and interaction in learning during the pandemic has very harshly impacted students, especially young ones.

So where does the mind stop, and the rest of the world begin?

Does the mind ever stop, or does it always extend, is the question. We have no thoughts without other people, language or social experience. The influence of the environment on the mind, helps our mind to be extended from the beginning. We always do our thinking in a stable place, context, therefore the mind is never not extended.

The extended mind is not about the brain not being central to thinking, redefining where the thinking all happens. The extended mind is a very optimistic vision of our capabilities. The extended mind can also give us compassion, hope.

Judging people from the perspective of their brains being the end of the story, is not right. All intelligence comes from the raw material of the brain, but whether we can use them or not proves our intelligence. It is not right to judge people by whether they are intelligent or not, because that isn’t all there is to the brain. We have to look at why, are they free, do they have a network of people that can help them - these are all things that play a huge role in how intelligently people think. Different people come from different backgrounds, environments, and have different intelligence levels.

Citations: The psychology podcast, “The extended mind”

David Chalmers - What is Extended Mind?