The Extended Mind (1998)(consc.net)
consc.net
The Extended Mind (1998)
http://consc.net/papers/extended.html
8 comments
While interesting, the ethical implications are what got me interested in the extended mind theory. If I cut out a piece of someone's brain, and that turned them into a lesser functioning human being, then what I did would be considered unethical by most people's ethical frameworks. But what if I took away your paper and pencil, or computer, or abacus? Is that unethical? This has tangible effects on schools that lack funding for tools, or those imprisoned without access to books and writing material.
An interesting line of thought indeed -- let's continue it...
A large chunk of contemporary society considers hand writing an obsolete "mind extension" unworthy of "installation".
No centralized entity is forcing people to forgo this upgrade, but it's kinda unconventional to install it these days, so it gets progressively rarer.
It could be argued that this is analogous to an entire society of users choosing to not install the terminal/command line app on their OS. Or (closer to reality), a wide swath of computer users missing out on the power of the command line.
A large chunk of contemporary society considers hand writing an obsolete "mind extension" unworthy of "installation".
No centralized entity is forcing people to forgo this upgrade, but it's kinda unconventional to install it these days, so it gets progressively rarer.
It could be argued that this is analogous to an entire society of users choosing to not install the terminal/command line app on their OS. Or (closer to reality), a wide swath of computer users missing out on the power of the command line.
This topic was explored in the science fiction novel Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury, an unauthorized sequel to Asimov's Foundation series.
For what it is worth, I have read at least a few works of science fiction where "access to information as basic human right" question was either discussed o at least brought up.
or your eyeglasses, which would seem to hint at the midpoint of this ethical puzzle
This is a topic which will become more-and-more relevant as human-computer interfaces get better. The SEP article is also a good read:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/embodied-cognition/
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/embodied-cognition/
Love the references to David Kirsh's work on Tetris. I.e., to see if Tetris shapes fit, one can either mentally rotate or use the button to rotate: both are cognitive processes, but one is more externalized.
Reading philosophy late at night helps me sleep. Fitting.