Extended Mind Thesis

Abstract

Clark & Chalmers argue that given the way in which humans use external props in cognitive processes, the mind should be seen as extending beyond the skin to include those external props. They also argue that this does indeed mean that what we believe may indeed be determined by parts of the environment, however for this to be true, we must have formed a habit of reliance upon those objects in our cognitive processes and in our thinking. They use the examples of Inga and Otto, both of whom go to a museum on 53rd Street, but where Inga remembers that that is where the museum is and so when she hears about the exhibition she chooses to go to 53rd Street because she remembers that this is where it is, Otto is brain damaged and can only remember most things by writing them down in his notebook or diary and then consulting this external memory to figure out where to go. Other examples used are (1) rearranging tiles in Scrabble to figure out what words might be made up out of those particular letter tiles, (2) playing Tetris and physically rotating the objects on the computer rather than in the head to determine where the best fit will be, and (3) the use of slide rulers, (4) textbooks, (5) language, and (6) even our partners, (7) secretaries who help us make decisions and remember things, and (8) waiters at favourite restaurants who remember for us what food we really like.