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Marshal McLuhan's book Understanding Media had the full title "Understanding media: the extensions of man." And he had a chapter about the automobile. If you'

Marshal McLuhan's book Understanding Media had the full title "Understanding media: the extensions of man." And he had a chapter about the automobile. If you've ever had the chilling experience of a skid, the terrifying adrenaline surge during that second where it is clear the car is no longer under your control, you know the dude was onto something. The car is an extension of our bodies. An extra body part.

uoaei 2y ago
"extended cognition" is the generalization of this concept as defined in academia (cognitive science and the like). I had a very vivid experience while backpacking on acid: I fully comprehended the cyborg nature I had adopted by carrying all the resources necessary to sustain life on my person. The hose pumping water into the organs best suited to deal with it, the extra deployable shelter I had stashed away, the ability to isolate more water from harmful pathogens for continued sustenance, on-demand flame and vessel to cook foods that would otherwise be inedible/undigestable, etc. Your cognitive processes reorganize themselves around those new affordances you've provided for yourself, and you can reasonably say you're thinking with those faculties and not merely of them.
albert_e 2y ago
I have pressed an imaginary "brake pedal" with my foot many times when travelling as a passenger in vehicles with someone else driving, just because i was watching the traffic and sensed the need to slow down. Another instancee -- In my country growing up we didnt always have "blinkers" on our vehicles (light motorbikes, scooters, bicycles) -- so it was common to use "hand signals" to indicate your intention to turn right or left. I once did "hand signal" when WALKING along a corridor and had to turn right into another corridor / aisle.
- aworks 2y ago
  I have a Jeep and do the "Jeep Wave" when I drive past other Jeeps. It's mostly an automatic gesture. When I go out for a walk on the street, I have to fight the urge to wave when I see a Jeep.
- dave4420 2y ago
  The number of times I’ve tried to use my keys to get through a ticket barrier… or my Oyster card to unlock my front door…
- eru 2y ago
  Hand signals are still common around the world for pushbikes.
kjkjadksj 2y ago
Its kind of baffling how good at driving and thinking of other things at the same time we are. Henry Ford really lucked out that we’d so readily adapt having never seen something like a car in our evolutionary history before.

uoaei 2y ago

"extended cognition" is the generalization of this concept as defined in academia (cognitive science and the like). I had a very vivid experience while backpacking on acid: I fully comprehended the cyborg nature I had adopted by carrying all the resources necessary to sustain life on my person. The hose pumping water into the organs best suited to deal with it, the extra deployable shelter I had stashed away, the ability to isolate more water from harmful pathogens for continued sustenance, on-demand flame and vessel to cook foods that would otherwise be inedible/undigestable, etc. Your cognitive processes reorganize themselves around those new affordances you've provided for yourself, and you can reasonably say you're thinking with those faculties and not merely of them.

albert_e 2y ago

I have pressed an imaginary "brake pedal" with my foot many times when travelling as a passenger in vehicles with someone else driving, just because i was watching the traffic and sensed the need to slow down. Another instancee -- In my country growing up we didnt always have "blinkers" on our vehicles (light motorbikes, scooters, bicycles) -- so it was common to use "hand signals" to indicate your intention to turn right or left. I once did "hand signal" when WALKING along a corridor and had to turn right into another corridor / aisle.

aworks 2y ago
I have a Jeep and do the "Jeep Wave" when I drive past other Jeeps. It's mostly an automatic gesture. When I go out for a walk on the street, I have to fight the urge to wave when I see a Jeep.
dave4420 2y ago
The number of times I’ve tried to use my keys to get through a ticket barrier… or my Oyster card to unlock my front door…
eru 2y ago
Hand signals are still common around the world for pushbikes.

kjkjadksj 2y ago

Its kind of baffling how good at driving and thinking of other things at the same time we are. Henry Ford really lucked out that we’d so readily adapt having never seen something like a car in our evolutionary history before.