I remember when the Clark and Chalmers paper, 'The Extended Mind', came out. It proposed a radical theory: that the mind doesn't end with the human body. As they argue, if some process in the world would be considered part of a cognitive process were it to happen in the head, then it is part of the cognitive process. Thus, this 'parity principle' is the basis for ideas like 'the outboard brain' and "I store my knowledge in my friends". I'm not quite so eager to go along with the thesis. As Adams and Aizawa argue, merely being coupled with a process doesn't make something a part of that process. On the other hand, I have been and am perfectly comfortable with the idea of concepts - like, say, my personal identity - extending beyond the brain and self. At any rate, if these deliberations interest you, then based on this review Richard Menary's The Extended Mind would make a great holiday read.
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