Externalizing Thinking
Offloading Cognitive Overload
The image of a scientist thinking in front of a blackboard full of formulae and drawings is quite common.
Not only scientists, people generally externalize their thinking onto paper or blackboard, or digital devices. Writing forces us to think clearly, and to crystalize our thinking.
The writer Flannery O'Connor famously said:
"I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say"
- Flannery O'Connor -
It is an example of externalizing thinking.
Another example is Richard Feynman's anecdote:
When historian Charles Weiner looked over a pile of Richard Feynman’s notebooks, he called them a wonderful ‘record of his day-to-day work’.
“No, no!”, Feynman objected strongly.
“They aren’t a record of my thinking process. They are my thinking process. I actually did the work on the paper.”
“Well,” Weiner said, “The work was done in your head, but the record of it is still here.”
“No, it’s not a record, not really. It’s working. You have to work on paper and this is the paper. Okay?”, Feynman explained.
Source: Clive Thompson (2014). Smarter Than You Think. p. 7
An Extended Brain is a powerful device that can be used to externalize and offload mental tasks such as memory and thinking. It can help to improve cognitive performance by providing a secure, easily accessible platform for storing and retrieving data. Additionally, it can help to reduce cognitive overload by allowing users to organize their mental processes. Finally, it can help to enhance creativity by allowing users to explore new ideas quickly and efficiently.