Philosophy of Cognitive
Science
University of Sussex, 2004
A paper in which I sketch an account
of a multi-dimensional extension
of mind that includes evolutionary,
social, and technological components—much inspired by Andy Clark's prophetic
book Natural
Born Cyborgs
Like Clark &
Chalmers (who wrote the original paper "the Extended mind"), and others,
I take the view that the phenomena we know as "mind"
or "cognition" are no
more confined to the citadel of
the skull, or even "The Individual" than
language or music or computation.
Minds are us to some extent externalized.
I argue that minds, in as much as they are synonymous with brains, are evolved phenomena (and are thus embodied [Varela et al]); that they have evolved on Earth with most potency in a highly social environment (minds require input from many sources, including other minds, in order to develop [Vygotsky]); and that minds can readily be amplified
and extended [Clark]. This cognitive extension is made possible in the human case primarily with the help of
other people, but also with the aid of various programs
and prostheses—"thinking tools" such as "epistemic artefacts"
(Sterelny), "relational artefacts"
(Turkle), and especially language—"the
ultimate artefact" (Clark).
Minds are also paradoxical: on the one hand they are active, dynamic, independent agents, yet they are plainly also only quasi-discrete entities—they are highly environment-dependent and regulate and develop collectively. And to the extent that the products of minds are ideas, minds can be seen as self-generating ("auto-poietic" - Varela et al), inasmuch as ideas comprise a crucial portion (a scaffold at least) of the informational environment that minds exist and evolve in.
Ray
Kurzweil argues that the
technological extension of
mind will have profound consequences
for all of us within the next
generation.
NPR
article on the ethics of
machine consciousness
Cyberbodies;
Robo-Legs by Michel Marriott
in the New York Times.
The line between "human"
and "machine" is
blurring fast - if it ever
existed. (requires login)
