Extended Mind Theory Essay

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This week’s discussion of extended mind theory was a paradigm shift in the way we have traditionally been looking at cognition. Until now, every theory that has been presented was within the blood-brain barrier, embodied by the agent. We repeatedly used the term ‘cognitive toolbox’ as we looked at various theories throughout the course, and it carried the connotation that we might employ multiple strategies to achieve cognition. However, the introduction of the extended mind into our toolbox (literally) has opened a fundamentally different avenue for looking at cognition. The extended mind theory takes the position that our mind does not reside solely within our blood-brain barrier, but extends into the environment. Whenever we employ the usage of what are called ‘cognitive tools’, they become a part of our cognition, allowing us to overcome obstacles and complete cognitive tasks that could not be done without the tool. For example, the usage of a piece of paper and a pencil allow us to complete complex long multiplication or division, a task that would likely be impossible for the average …show more content…
The extended mind is a much more versatile tool for studying environmental interactions simply because it omits the assumption that the environment is solely an external factor. When an agent is coupled with an environmental factor, a system is formed wherein there is a causal loop of change between the agent’s subsystems and the external factors that is coupled with. On its own, the DST does not seem like an independent tool for looking at cognition, but rather a tool to analyze the way a system operates. However, the incorporation of DST into the extended mind seems to coordinate prolifically, creating an agent that is changed by, and changes, the environmental factors by employing them as tools incorporated into the agent’s internal

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