Extended Mind
QUOTE
David Chalmers once said…
“The brain’s boundaries are porous.”
(Australian philosopher)
CONCEPT
Extended Mind
The Extended Mind is a theory in cognitive science that argues our thinking isn’t limited to the brain alone—it extends into our bodies, our tools, and our environments.
When we jot notes on paper, gesture with our hands, or use a calculator, those tools and actions don’t just support **thinking—they are part of the thinking process. The brain offloads work into the world, using external scaffolds to expand memory, reasoning, and creativity.
This perspective reframes intelligence: it isn’t only about neurons firing, but about how effectively we orchestrate internal and external resources into a seamless cognitive system.
STORY
Exponential … Extension?
On September 15, 1952, a 24-year-old mathematician named John Nash walked into a seminar room at MIT with nothing but chalk, and changed the future of economics.
Nash had been working on a problem that traditional economics couldn’t fully solve: how do individuals make decisions when their outcomes depend on the decisions of others?
He called it the non-cooperative game. The mathematics were difficult, but Nash didn’t rely only on abstract calculations. He leaned on something else—his environment.
Nash covered the blackboard with diagrams, arrows, and symbols. As he worked, he spoke aloud, responding not only to the audience but to his own scribbles. The chalk marks became memory aids, placeholders, and prompts—an externalized thinking partner. By writing, erasing, and reconfiguring, Nash was literally thinking with the board.
This wasn’t just performance. It was cognition extended into space.
Without the board, the complexity would overwhelm the short-term memory of any one mind. With it, Nash could juggle multiple scenarios at once, test possibilities, and refine them in real time.
The theory he unveiled that day—now known as the Nash Equilibrium—became one of the most important concepts in modern economics. It earned him the Nobel Prize in 1994 and continues to shape fields as varied as international relations, evolutionary biology, and artificial intelligence.