Computer as a Way to Expand The Brain

The Expanded Self and Its Connection to Our Devices

The concept of the 'expanded self' is a psychological idea that explains why some people form such strong connections to their possessions and objects. When we create cherished memories with objects, or when objects help us retain memories we value, we come to see those things as part of ourselves. It’s not hard to see why this might happen with our phones, as we use them so often to communicate with friends and family, or to take pictures and record videos of special moments. From our friends’ phone numbers to our daily schedules, there are so many things we don’t need to remember because we know they’re stored in our phones. As devices like cellphones become more integrated into our daily lives, a major concern is that they’re taking over the basic functions of the human mind. For that reason, I believe that my iPhone is an extension of my mind. Andy Clark, a philosopher and cognitive scientist, argues that the mind extends into the world and is frequently entangled with a variety of devices (Clark, 2010).

Computer as a Way to Expand The Brain

In Clark's article “Out of Our Brains,” he poses the question, “Is it possible that, sometimes at least, some of the activity that enables us to be the thinking, knowing agents that we are occurs outside the brain?” (Clark, 2010, p. 1). He compares this to the familiar observation that most people make hand gestures when they talk. It was assumed that this bodily action served some expressive need, perhaps for emphasis or representation. However, psychologists have questioned this assumption, suspecting that the bodily motions may themselves play an active role in our thought process (Clark, 2010, p. 2). Whatever the case may be, Clark believes that the brain is obviously deeply implicated. No one accepts that the physical handwaving’s are by themselves significant, yet it may be that they are contributing to thinking and reasoning, possibly by reducing or otherwise adjusting the tasks the brain must perform, thus helping us to advance our own speculation (Clark, 2010, p. 3).

Brains are the locus of incredible versatility and processing power and will be the key to virtually any form of cognitive success. Clark also mentions those outside the biological body, such as iPhones, which change and broaden the range of bare biological processing in numerous ways. He believes these may, in some cases, be best seen as bio-external elements in an extended cognitive process, one that now criss-crosses the regular limits of skin and skull (Clark, 2010, p. 4). Clark proposes another approach to the idea by comparing it to the use of prosthetic limbs. Inevitably, a good prosthetic limb functions not as an insignificant device but as a non-biological bodily part. Progressively, the form and structure of such limbs are tailored to specific functions and do not replicate the full form and structure of the original biological template (Clark, 2010, p. 5). As our information-processing technologies improve and become increasingly better adapted to fit the niche provided by the biological brain, they become more like cognitive prosthetics: non-biological circuits that come to function as parts of the material underpinnings of minds like ours (Clark, 2010, p. 6).

If we can fix a cognitive function by utilizing non-biological circuitry, then we can expand and alter cognitive functions in that way too. If a wired interface is acceptable, then a wire-free interface such as links your brain to your notepad, BlackBerry, or iPhone must be acceptable as well. What counts is the flow and alteration of information, not the medium through which it moves (Clark, 2010, p. 7).

According to philosopher Andy Clark, our psychological states, such as our beliefs or memories, aren’t always just 'in our minds'. They are distributed. In other words, it isn’t merely that I use my contact list in my phone to help me remember; my genuine remembering is partly constituted by the phone itself. It is a combination of brain and computer chips (Clark, 2010, p. 8). I am not sure whether I agree with Clark and Chalmers about the entire mind, but I am more convinced that one sort of mental state, the state of my knowing something, is often extended to our digital devices.

My knowing, at least in the passive, receptive sense of “knowing”, is definitely outsourced to my phone. And that is why I often feel significantly less knowledgeable when I don’t have ready access to it. If something like this is correct, it helps to explain why we worry about losing more control over access to our smart devices. What and how I know is part of my mind; but if what and how I know is partly composed of what happens on my phone, if it is “spread out” in that way, then unlocking our devices is not simply like unlocking our house. It is more like opening up our minds.

All things considered, your cell phone is much more than just a phone. It can tell a more personal story about you than your closest friend. No other piece of equipment ever, not even in your brain, contains the quality or amount of information kept on your phone: it 'knows' whom you talk to, when you talk to them, what you stated, where you have been, your purchases, pictures, biometric information, even your notes to yourself. Objects, such as cell phones or notepads, are regularly just as practically fundamental to our cognition as the neural connections in our minds. They enhance and broaden our minds by expanding our cognitive power and unlocking internal resources.

The Role of Mobile Devices in Our Cognitive Lives

Mobile devices such as smartphones play an increasingly significant role in our daily lives. We rely on our digital devices for doing our jobs, maintaining friendships, navigating traffic, or relaxing after work, and our physical and emotional attachment to them has deepened accordingly. One of the most pertinent questions for the 21st century will be how these increasingly intelligent and invasive technologies will affect our minds. Many think digital technologies are fundamentally shaping how we think, process information, and engage in social relationships. At the core of the current debate is the notion that today’s digital devices are becoming so thoroughly integrated into our lives that, for better or for worse, they start taking over basic human functions. The current generation of technology is fundamentally different from earlier innovations in the sense that it is mobile and provides continuous access to limitless networks of knowledge and social contacts. The assumption is that because of these qualities, our devices—and through them the Internet—are becoming a primary form of external memory, taking over this task from the brain. For instance, when people expect to have future access to information, they have lower rates of recall of the information itself and enhanced recall for where to access it instead (Sparrow, Liu, & Wegner, 2011). Furthermore, we consider our smartphone an extension of ourselves, and separation from it heightens state anxiety and impairs executive functioning (Cheever et al., 2014).

Tasks that my brain used to handle are now performed by my iPhone. Take memory, for example: How many people use their brains to remember phone numbers anymore? My iPhone does all the work. It used to be the biological memory that carried the load; now the iPhone is carrying the load for me, acting as my memory. The iPhone serves to control planning functions that my brain used to manage, such as spatial navigation, now transferred from my brain into Google Maps.

Your mind is extending from your brain into the world, so the iPhone is actually part of it. The iPhone hasn’t been implanted into your mind, but you might think it’s as if it were.

So, the iPhone’s memory is basically my memory. The iPhone’s planning or navigation is essentially my planning and navigation, as if it had happened inside the brain.

References

• Clark, A. (2010). Out of Our Brains. Retrieved from [URL]
• Cheever, N. A., Rosen, L. D., Carrier, L. M., & Chavez, A. (2014). Out of sight is not out of mind: The impact of restricting wireless mobile device use on anxiety levels among low, moderate and high users. Computers in Human Behavior, 37, 290-297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.002
• Sparrow, B., Liu, J., & Wegner, D. M. (2011). Google effects on memory: Cognitive consequences of having information at our fingertips. Science, 333(6043), 776-778. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1207745