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This is actually a very compelling paradigm to consider, and on the surface it looks like an issue of semantics, but the change in viewpoint can change how you

This is actually a very compelling paradigm to consider, and on the surface it looks like an issue of semantics, but the change in viewpoint can change how you look at cognition considerably. I was pondering the nature of consciousness, particularly the barriers between a social species, eusocial species, and singular mind. My brain is made up of neurons, but there's no discernible consciousness to them individually, there's just my mind. Is a herd of cattle a mind in a similar way? What about a bee hive? Is the distinction simply a function of bandwidth or latency? Is the distinction based on some organizational principle? Something else? What this article kind of argues (or frames someone else's argument) is that there is no fundamental distinction, just an apparent and illusory one. If you offload memory and information processing tasks externally, for example, taking a list or using an abacus, do those tools become a part of your mind? If you cooperate with another person, do you both become part of each other's minds? The perspective laid out in the article argues yes, when you offload cognitive tasks outside of your brain, the tools with which you do that are a part of your mind. It is very interesting to consider.

Syzygies 6y ago
Yes! This is the nature of our species. We externalize thought. Calculators make people dumber. A slide rule is like a trombone; you slide to your best guess, then listen to the sound and home in on the note. An abacus trains the mind to no longer need an abacus. In the future the most capable humans will be those who coevolve with external tools. This has long been the case, but we're entering a realm where those tools are increasingly cognitive. Mathematics is a nice microcosm for the tension here: It attracts people with unusual gifts who are certain those gifts are sufficient to proceed as if today is 1790. Others, perhaps not so gifted, but with a greater brain plasticity who welcome these external tools, are having a field day.
Comevius 6y ago
Our minds don't exist independently from each other to begin with, we are not as separated as we are connected. We are all part of a system, just as our brain has parts. We don't see it this way for some evolutionary reason, but distrupt the communication between the two brain hemispheres and you start to see how much of our concept of indivisible, independent self is made up after the fact by parts that create coherent pictures of the work of other parts, which takes time and by parts that reflect on this, which takes even more time. By the time this coherent self emerges most of the work is done, and a large amount of it is not initiated by it, rather observed. We are of course capable to set things in motion with this slow coherent self, but effective behavior comes from learning to push all the work to the faster parts, which are either already specialized (cognitive biases, heuristics) can be specialized (learning, habits) or even external like tools and people. Organizations can be seen as an extension of this, like a frontal frontal lobe. Organizations are basically slow thinkers, with procedures to control cognitive biases. Societies are even more complex and slow, but they too mirror this hierachical organization.

Syzygies 6y ago

Yes! This is the nature of our species. We externalize thought. Calculators make people dumber. A slide rule is like a trombone; you slide to your best guess, then listen to the sound and home in on the note. An abacus trains the mind to no longer need an abacus. In the future the most capable humans will be those who coevolve with external tools. This has long been the case, but we're entering a realm where those tools are increasingly cognitive. Mathematics is a nice microcosm for the tension here: It attracts people with unusual gifts who are certain those gifts are sufficient to proceed as if today is 1790. Others, perhaps not so gifted, but with a greater brain plasticity who welcome these external tools, are having a field day.

Comevius 6y ago

Our minds don't exist independently from each other to begin with, we are not as separated as we are connected. We are all part of a system, just as our brain has parts. We don't see it this way for some evolutionary reason, but distrupt the communication between the two brain hemispheres and you start to see how much of our concept of indivisible, independent self is made up after the fact by parts that create coherent pictures of the work of other parts, which takes time and by parts that reflect on this, which takes even more time. By the time this coherent self emerges most of the work is done, and a large amount of it is not initiated by it, rather observed. We are of course capable to set things in motion with this slow coherent self, but effective behavior comes from learning to push all the work to the faster parts, which are either already specialized (cognitive biases, heuristics) can be specialized (learning, habits) or even external like tools and people. Organizations can be seen as an extension of this, like a frontal frontal lobe. Organizations are basically slow thinkers, with procedures to control cognitive biases. Societies are even more complex and slow, but they too mirror this hierachical organization.