Comments on: Where is your mind?

By: I’ve got your missing links right here (24 November 2012) – Phenomena: Not Exactly Rocket Science

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 02:37:13 +0000

[...] “Where is your mind?” Tom Stafford on the fine line between cultural & neural networks [...]

By: mikmik

mikmik — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:58:59 +0000

Yeah, book learnin (lol) is so structured and tries to predict difficulties and how to deal with them, whereas in real situations, taking in complex observations and using that to react and problem solve is not a clearly delineated process.
I think that all experiences become part of ourselves, and the more that is experienced, the more you begin to perceive and interact with, the more subtle and interconnected you become. Harmonious I suppose.

I doubt that anything, or amount of foreknowledge, no matter how intricate and ‘predictive’ can possibly compare to the actual experience. Not even close.
I’m not sure what kind of intelligence that is either, but I know humility is a part of it.

By: amelie

amelie — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:25:22 +0000

That comment reminded me of some article I read about whether our minds would be able to adapt to living on some other planet, if that bizarre idea ever became our last option. I had the impression that our evolution would not allow us to adapt for that change. Anyway it also brings to mind the broccoli example; book smarts are one thing but someone who reads how to grow crops might be in for a big surprise once they try it for the first time. Not sure what that type of intelligence is called but I think our native ancestors had a far better grip on the workings of the natural world than even the best scholar today.

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:51:08 +0000

It’s crazy to think about the power of our minds as well as its affect upon the future of humanity itself. This article reminds me of a movie I saw recently called “Solar Revolution.” The film speculates how our minds will perceive the world around us, after civilization has reached it’s so called “end.” You can check out the trailer at yekra.com/solar-revolution. 2013 is only a month or so away! we need to get educated upon the dimension our mind will soon be catapulted into! Trippy Stuff !

By: amelie

amelie — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:08:40 +0000

Great contribution. In college I would cross-check concepts with multiple biology books / sites. It promotes critical thinking, if you can interpret between-the-lines differences in scientific explanations across various sources.

Wikipedia is great as long as it’s kept updated. If new research comes along, it’s not as though people say hey, someone call Wikipedia! Their links and references are often stellar; my only objection is that the information there often contradicts what’s on the site itself. For example one wild cat species was called nocturnal on Wikipedia, when you clicked on their referenced .edu site it states the cat had recently been found to be diurnal.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:59:46 +0000

The Extended Mind theory and the results of research on transactive memory are so appealing because traditionally, philosophers and psychologists have considered organisms to be distinct from their environment. This is what gives rise to indirect realism which underlies most current neuroscientific and psychological thinking. But when you put animal and environment back together again, as J.J. Gibson did in his many writings, the fact that things in the environment can become part of us naturally follows.

Despite the rich tradition of memory research, I have my doubts that memory as a construct and theoretical concept is necessary for explaining behavior. One needs only consider invertebrates and other organisms (such as the venerable slime mould, Physarum polycephalum) which display complex behaviors indicative of memory but which lack the CNS necessary to support a central memory storehouse. In fact, recent research has indicated that P. polycephalum relies on a form of external memory in order to solve mazes. All organisms probably do this.

Memory research often involves higher-cognitive abilities and artificial tasks. When one considers the real purpose of memory for organisms, it boils down to several things: Memory serves as a means for informing organisms about past behaviors and events (retrospectivity) in the service of present and future behaviors and events (prospectivity or anticipation), and it also serves as a means for informing about present location during locomotion and navigation (which are some of the most important functions for any organism, how else can they find food, shelter, and mates?)

Retrospectivity, prospectivity, and navigation can all be accounted for without postulating anything like memory. The environment fully supports these kinds of abilities.

By: E

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 05:37:26 +0000

I find myself making these sorts of cateogizations consciously: what I can trust myself to remember, what I need to write down, what I can rely on others to know, and what I can easily look up.

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 04:22:03 +0000

People use the environment as a sort of short term ram buffer for not only orientation, but for memory also. cognitive conservation discribes it. for example when you go for a walk in a new area, you find your way back using a few landmarks. I feel invincible by navigating a new piece of forest, and stupid when I misplace my car in a huge parking lot. internal and external orientation is more than similar.

By: darinlhammond

darinlhammond — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 01:39:24 +0000

This is a fascinating way to view the mind as extending outwards towards the social in many ways. I argued similarly not long ago in an article that countered Nicholas Carr’s old argument from “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” He suggests that easy access to information on the web results in a lower level of thought.

The idea seems absurd to me and your article gives me more ammunition. I love to think of Wikipedia, for example, as an extension of my brain: social knowledge.Thinking differently is not pejorative, nor does thinking together need to be. There is much to be said for the division of labor type thinking. If we free our minds of that which is unnecessary to remember, we can maximize our creativity and ingenuity. Thank you for your insightful post.

By: chuck

chuck — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 01:34:33 +0000

“As research on areas like transactive memory shows, our minds are made up just as much by the people and tools around us as they are by the brain cells inside our skull.”

Ultimately this transaction is facilitated [even if unconsciously] by neuronal processes in the individual brain. Perhaps, the mirror neurons play a role.