“There’s a gap in between
There’s a gap where we meet
Where I end and you begin”
So begins Radiohead’s eponymously titled song. One of many philosophical gems the band buried in a mess of glorious gibberish on their 2005 album Hail to the Thief. They pose the question perfectly, where DO you end, where DO you begin? What is “you”? That’s right, I’m about to get metaphysical ALL over your ass!
The concept of the “Extended Mind” was first put forth by the metaphysicists Andy Clark and David Chalmers. In case you are wondering, a metaphysicist is someone who likes to make things horribly more complicated than necessary. Here are two easy to understand examples: the spelling of the word “metaphysicist” and the movie Synechdoche, New York.
The director is directing an actor portraying the director as the director!
Metaphysicists are usually strong proponents of hallucinatory drugs, which probably explains how they came to be
metaphysicists. A google image search reveals what your everyday metaphysicist looks like.
A metaphysicist with unkempt hair and beard, crooked glasses, and in the woods? Definitely on acid.
Now that you fully understand the meaning of this word, let’s move on. Clark and Chalmers make a pretty strong case that the human “mind” is not contained within its skull. Here is the link if you want to read more: http://tinyurl.com/ydo78rx
I began reading this paper thinking it was about the Extended Mind, but then to my delight, I discovered it was about Tetris!! As the Tetris metaphor deepened, they began to lose me. What does all this talk of cognition and memory have to do with Tetris?! Swimming fish? Otto and Twin Otto?! I decided that I would best understand their main points if I briefly skimmed the rest of the paper. This purportedly fictional tale illustrates their point:
“First, consider a normal case of belief embedded in memory. Inga hears from a friend that there is an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, and decides to go see it. She thinks for a moment and recalls that the museum is on 53rd Street, so she walks to 53rd Street and goes into the museum. It seems clear that Inga believes that the museum is on 53rd Street, and that she believed this even before she consulted her memory. It was not previously an occurrent belief, but then neither are most of our beliefs. The belief was sitting somewhere in memory, waiting to be accessed.
Now consider Otto. Otto suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and like many Alzheimer’s patients, he relies on information in the environment to help structure his life. Otto carries a notebook around with him everywhere he goes. When he learns new information, he writes it down. When he needs some old information, he looks it up. For Otto, his notebook plays the role usually played by a biological memory. Today, Otto hears about the exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, and decides to go see it. He consults the notebook, which says that the museum is on 53rd Street, so he walks to 53rd Street and goes into the museum.
Clearly, Otto walked to 53rd Street because he wanted to go to the museum and he believed the museum was on 53rd Street. And just as Inga had her belief even before she consulted her memory, it seems reasonable to say that Otto believed the museum was on 53rd Street even before consulting his notebook. For in relevant respects the cases are entirely analogous: the notebook plays for Otto the same role that memory plays for Inga. The information in the notebook functions just like the information constituting an ordinary non-occurrent belief; it just happens that this information lies beyond the skin.”
This staircase is no place for an old man!!
Is anyone but me worried that Otto is wondering around alone on the streets of NYC on his way to the modern art music? The guy has fucking Alzheimer’s!! Look at this website (http://www.moma.org/) now does that look like a place that a guy like this should go to by himself?! This should never be allowed to happen, even in the name of a good philosophical discussion! I intended to write a serious piece on the meaning of the “Extended Mind” to my life. It would have been personal and life affirming…but the thought of Otto alone at MOMA has got me really worked up. The place is probably SWARMING with metaphysicists! Somebody needs to rescue that guy, gotta go!!!
Where I End and You Begin
“There’s a gap in between
There’s a gap where we meet
Where I end and you begin”
So begins Radiohead’s eponymously titled song. One of many philosophical gems the band buried in a mess of glorious gibberish on their 2005 album Hail to the Thief. They pose the question perfectly, where DO you end, where DO you begin? What is “you”? That’s right, I’m about to get metaphysical ALL over your ass!
The concept of the “Extended Mind” was first put forth by the metaphysicists Andy Clark and David Chalmers. In case you are wondering, a metaphysicist is someone who likes to make things horribly more complicated than necessary. Here are two easy to understand examples: the spelling of the word “metaphysicist” and the movie Synechdoche, New York.
The director is directing an actor portraying the director as the director!
Metaphysicists are usually strong proponents of hallucinatory drugs, which probably explains how they came to be
metaphysicists. A google image search reveals what your everyday metaphysicist looks like.
A metaphysicist with unkempt hair and beard, crooked glasses, and in the woods? Definitely on acid.
Now that you fully understand the meaning of this word, let’s move on. Clark and Chalmers make a pretty strong case that the human “mind” is not contained within its skull. Here is the link if you want to read more: http://tinyurl.com/ydo78rx
I began reading this paper thinking it was about the Extended Mind, but then to my delight, I discovered it was about Tetris!! As the Tetris metaphor deepened, they began to lose me. What does all this talk of cognition and memory have to do with Tetris?! Swimming fish? Otto and Twin Otto?! I decided that I would best understand their main points if I briefly skimmed the rest of the paper. This purportedly fictional tale illustrates their point:
“First, consider a normal case of belief embedded in memory. Inga hears from a friend that there is an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, and decides to go see it. She thinks for a moment and recalls that the museum is on 53rd Street, so she walks to 53rd Street and goes into the museum. It seems clear that Inga believes that the museum is on 53rd Street, and that she believed this even before she consulted her memory. It was not previously an occurrent belief, but then neither are most of our beliefs. The belief was sitting somewhere in memory, waiting to be accessed.
Now consider Otto. Otto suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and like many Alzheimer’s patients, he relies on information in the environment to help structure his life. Otto carries a notebook around with him everywhere he goes. When he learns new information, he writes it down. When he needs some old information, he looks it up. For Otto, his notebook plays the role usually played by a biological memory. Today, Otto hears about the exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, and decides to go see it. He consults the notebook, which says that the museum is on 53rd Street, so he walks to 53rd Street and goes into the museum.
Clearly, Otto walked to 53rd Street because he wanted to go to the museum and he believed the museum was on 53rd Street. And just as Inga had her belief even before she consulted her memory, it seems reasonable to say that Otto believed the museum was on 53rd Street even before consulting his notebook. For in relevant respects the cases are entirely analogous: the notebook plays for Otto the same role that memory plays for Inga. The information in the notebook functions just like the information constituting an ordinary non-occurrent belief; it just happens that this information lies beyond the skin.”
This staircase is no place for an old man!!
Is anyone but me worried that Otto is wondering around alone on the streets of NYC on his way to the modern art music? The guy has fucking Alzheimer’s!! Look at this website (http://www.moma.org/) now does that look like a place that a guy like this should go to by himself?! This should never be allowed to happen, even in the name of a good philosophical discussion! I intended to write a serious piece on the meaning of the “Extended Mind” to my life. It would have been personal and life affirming…but the thought of Otto alone at MOMA has got me really worked up. The place is probably SWARMING with metaphysicists! Somebody needs to rescue that guy, gotta go!!!