The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain

by Annie Murphy Paul

the mind is something more like the nest-building bird I spotted on my walk, plucking a bit of string here, a twig there, constructing a whole out of available parts.

making hand gestures increases the fluency of our speech and deepens our understanding of abstract concepts.

environmental cues that convey a sense of belonging, or a sense of personal control, enhance our performance in that space.

“Where does the mind stop and the rest of the world begin?”

Elements of the world outside may effectively act as mental “extensions,” allowing us to think in ways our brains could not manage on their own.

the rich resources of our world can and do enter into our trains of thought.

was in full brainbound mode, my “head bowed low” over my keyboard, working my poor brain ever harder instead of looking for opportunities to extend it.

It can become as dynamic as our bodies, as airy as our spaces, as rich as our relationships—as capacious as the whole wide world.