Ā āExperience isnāt something that goes on inside of usā¦I think of experience as something we achieve, we do actively. Experience is a temporarily extended involvementā¦ it is always necessarily environmentally situated. Its always necessarily spread out in time and dynamic.ā
Much of what was discussed in this weekās material was again quite abstract as they addressed the idea of the externalisation of human memory, thought and experience; however, it was actually the most interesting for me so far this semester. The first article was especially challenging during my first read of it, yet after taking it, I found many of the ideas raised here some of the most interesting. The article [Bernard, n.d.] looked at how externalising our memories in the form of writing it down on a piece of paper, or saving peopleās numbers into our phones, for example, indicates a reliability on such mediums or equipment to facilitate our thoughts and memories. Bernard [n.d.] questions whether this is a displacement of our knowledge, noting that this increasing reliance is indeed is resulting in humans becoming more vulnerable to ālosing our knowledgeā, which is only further exacerbated as technology advances and becomes more capable of doing things for us, rather than requiring us to think for ourselves. The example he used, which I think illustrates the idea really succinctly, was that āthe more improved the automobile becomes, the less we know how to drive ā the GPS system assisting the driver in his driving will replace him altogether: it will teleguide the vehicle by a system of automatic drivingā [Bernard, n.d.]. I found this entire idea completely fascinating and not something that I had ever thought of before, with Bernardās [n.d.] conclusion that āwe become impotent if not obsolete ā if it is true that knowledge is what empowers humanityā quite ādoomingā, so to speak. When considering this in terms of my own technological consumption, I am acutely aware of how much I rely on my iPhone alone, often claiming that I wouldnāt be able to function daily without it. I have become so used to being able to do absolutely anything that the mere thought of not being able to transfer money when Iām standing at the David Jones registers makes me feel sick. I am also a chronic to-do list writer, which again, I rely on my phone for. So I guess you could argue that a lot of my thoughts and memories are externalised in the form of my phone, not to mention all the other mediums I actively engage with such as my laptop, iPod, notepads etc. Clark and Chalmersā [1998] āextended mind theoryā covers similar ideas in terms of humans externalising memory in the form of writing down directions (is the example provided), however, from what I could discern, they see as the exact same process as following directions internally in your mind. The piece of paper, or whatever other medium is concerned, therefore becomes a physical extension of the mind. All of these ideas raised give light to the interesting notion that humans are really intertwined with everything else in the world, and do not exist or experience life as a solitude entity. As NoĆ« [2010] suggests, this notion is quite the opposite to traditional ideas of human thought as occurring in the brain, physical pieces of flesh. The quote included at the beginning of my entry I feel encapsulates the whole notion of experience and the āextended mindā really well. However, the key to all of this is that everyone is different, everyone's experiences and perceptions and reactions are different.
NoĆ«, Alva (2010) āDoes thinking happen in the brain?ā, 13:7 Cosmos and Culture < http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2010/12/10/131945848/does-thinking-happen-in-the-brain >
NoĆ«, Alva and Solano, Marlon Barrios (2008) ādance as a way of knowing: interview with Alva NoĆ«ā, < http://www.dance-tech.net/video/1462368:Video:19594 >
