A More General Theory of Scaffolded Cognition

By Zachary R Murphy

New and emerging technologies called neuroprostheses are challenging our

ideas about where one's mind ends and the environment begins. Cochlear implants,

which completely replace the functioning of the inner ear, are now a common treatment

for deafness. Berger et al. (2012) developed a device that replaces long-term

memory in rats Berger et al. (2012), while Hampson et al. (2013) created a brainmachine

interface that converts a desire to move one's arm into the motor neuron

impulses required to achieve that movement Hampson et al. (2013)-both offering

promising treatments for dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and paralysis. Deep brain

stimulation is now a common way of regulating neural activity to manage muscle

tremors in patients with Parkinson's disease. These devices completely replace parts

of human anatomy we would normally consider to be performing cognitive processing.

Are these devices themselves part of the cognitive system or do they just facilitate it?

Are they parts of our minds or just sophisticated tools? More philosophically, these

are metaphysical questions about where the boundary between the mind and the environment

lies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1835208010
• ISBN13: 9781835208014
• Release Date: September 2023
• Publisher: Dutt Hb
• Length: 76 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"