Extended Mind.

[Kai]

Have any of you'all heard of this? The philosophy of extended mind addresses the minds interaction with the environment and where the boundary between the two exists.

http://consc.net/papers/extended.html

I understand that consciousness actually extends to the limit of our sensory systems (and not just located in our brains) but I hadn't considered that, for example, a notebook as an external store of memory could be considered a part of that.

[Kai]

Was just thinking that this is similar to RAW's ideas about the brain's software being non-local.

[Captain Utopia]

Have any of you'all heard of this? The philosophy of extended mind addresses the minds interaction with the environment and where the boundary between the two exists.

http://consc.net/papers/extended.html

I understand that consciousness actually extends to the limit of our sensory systems (and not just located in our brains) but I hadn't considered that, for example, a notebook as an external store of memory could be considered a part of that.

Over the last few years I've been increasingly aware that Google is part of my extended mind. There are things I don't bother remembering any more, because I know I can access the details almost instantly. I think this allows me work through certain types of problems faster than some of my older colleagues, although it's an abysmally poor method when an internet connection is not available, and I expect it doesn't have as much value in other fields. However, since we're trending towards being an always-online society, it seems worth the risk.

EDIT: I should clarify that I'm referring to items which I would have previously memorised by rote, and in some cases had already done before allowing the biological memory to lapse - e.g. ideal implementations for certain design patterns, or standard library function parameters. Rather than the ability to use the internet to gather new information, which lies outside the scope of the paper.

[rong]

i heard this concept used to describe driving a car.  i.e. when you want to go left, you don't think to yourself, "turn wheel slightly counter clockwise," you simply think, "go left" - so the car becomes less a machine you control and more an extension of yourself.

[Captain Utopia]

i heard this concept used to describe driving a car.  i.e. when you want to go left, you don't think to yourself, "turn wheel slightly counter clockwise," you simply think, "go left" - so the car becomes less a machine you control and more an extension of yourself.

I think that may be more along the lines of this:
  http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227145.300-brain-sees-tools-as-limb-extension.html

[rong]

the door swings both ways?

[Captain Utopia]

the door swings both ways?

Maybe - it's certainly tempting to wonder if they are both examples of a singular mechanism, by which the mind naturally extends itself outside the body. But I really don't know enough about any of the fields involved to go any further than layman speculation.

[rong]

why don't you ask your brain?

(not trying to be a prick, i have this obsessive compulsion to tell jokes, and it was the best thing i could come up with after i gave up on trying to use the phrase "half a mind")

[Kai]

But I really don't know enough about any of the fields involved to go any further than layman speculation.

When it comes to consciousness study at that level of emergence, most people are just making it up as they go. What separates the layman from the expert is jargon. Otherwise everyone is at the same level of exploration.

Mental masturbation, the lot of it. 

[Captain Utopia]

Mental masturbation, the lot of it. 

[rong]

Mental masturbation, the lot of it. 

?

[Brotep]

ecological psychology ftw

[Golden Applesauce]

I just wanted to link to a favorite essay on transhumanism Trans-simianism by Aaron Diaz / Dresden Codak.

I know I certainly hold with the extended mind theory - when people ask if I know some obscure bit of physics or other science, I respond "Let me see if I remember" and go check Wikipedia.

Question: If Wikipedia is part of my extended, external memory, then are the Wikipedia editors part of my extended decision making and cognitive apparatus?

[Triple Zero]

Gods, I hope not.

[Richter]

The paper is blocked at work 

General thoughts on it though, I use, and consider tools like my computers or phone extensions of my Central Nervous System (CNS).  The interface may be physical, but I'm using them to perform functions, store data, and sort info more quickly and easily than the meat brain portion could. 

Do we (and if so WHERE do we) draw the line between our consciouness / CNS and other's when dealing with shared information in a social setting?