Pressing the Flesh: a Transcranial,
scourge of the farmer
Holistic and Environmentally Augmented
Approach to Cognition
Mirko 1
Farina , Prof. Andy 1
Clark ,
1School
of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh
2Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University Sydney, 3University of Antwerp
The Extended Mind Thesis (EMT)
The EMT is a view about the location of the
physical mechanisms of mind and cognition that
envisions the emergence of augmented cognitive
systems through the coupled combination of
externally located resources, bodily manipulations,
and in-the-head processing.
I intend to endorse a Complementarity based version of
the EMT, according to which external elements “may play a
role different from, but complementary to, the inner ones”.
(Clark, 2001).
In my account, internal and external resources are
merged together and deeply integrated into the
cognitive system so as to give rise to augmented
occurrences. The EMT thus leaves the door open for
progressive augmentation and cognitive extension.
Neural Plasticity
Cortical plasticity is a hallmark of the nervous system
and a fundamental property of the synapses. It refers to
the continuous alteration of the functional properties of a
group of neural elements throughout an individual‟s
lifetime.
Neural Plasticity is the capacity of the brain to
change its structure and modify its functions
according to environmental stimulation.
I argue that it is cortical plasticity that enables this kind
of deep and enriched integration. In other words,
plasticity is a precondition for Extended Cognition.
Extended Cognition emerges within one of these three
areas (or a combination of two of them): natural realms,
technological domains and social spheres.I take
technological extension, namely Sensory Substitution
Devices (SSDs henceforth), as my case study.
Dr. Julian 1
Kiverstein ,Dr. Till 1
Vierkant ,
The vOICE
SSDs provide a nice example of how
cognition can be augmented by tool use in
a way that directly exploits the opportunism
afforded by neural plasticity.
To this extent, I take the vOICe as my case study. The vOICe
(below) works by mapping live camera images onto sounds. By
testing neural plasticity and exploring cross-modal multisensory
integration, it allows the user to experience object localization
and form recognition.
Which sensory modality does the
“acquired perception” belong to?
Prima facie, it seems that the goal of SSDs is to re-establish a
lost sense. But do they genuinely do so? Do they merely replace
one sensory modality with another? Or are they delivering a new
form of perception?
I argue that the acquired perception obtained is a new form of
perception, one that cannot be experienced without the
dynamical coupling with such devices.
It is a new form of perception because it is cross-modal
and consistently enhanced in a way that no non-
augmented perception is. It is augmented because it is
based on Incorporation and Cognitive Dovetailing.
Incorporation and Cognitive Dovetailing
Incorporation occurs when the user ceases to feel the sensations
from the device. This happens when the perceiver has learned
how to cope with the apparatus.
I claim that the use of these embedded
interactive features profoundly changes
the functional properties of the sensory
cortex. Incorporation is therefore a
consequence of Cognitive Dovetailing.
Cognitive Dovetailing is the idea that
inner and outer processes naturally
go together like hand and glove, so
as to achieve a deeper kind of
cognitive integration. Cognitive
Dovetailing therefore takes place
when “neural resources become
structured so as to factor reliable
external resources and operations
into the very heart of their problem-
solving routines”. (Clark, 2001).
When a perceiver can fluently use an SSD to perceive his
environment what results is a dovetailing of inner and outer.
Prof. John 2
Sutton , Prof. Erik Myin3
My Hypothesis
I therefore put forward the thesis that the use of these
devices not only replaces but, in fact, also intimately
augments our perceptual abilities in novel directions, in a way
that would be impossible without them. These SSDs, as
Clark pointed out, are “mind enhancing tools”.
“Such devices should not be understood as merely external
stand-ins for already existing purely internal processes”
(Auvray & Myin, op.Cit., 2009). They transform perception
in a qualitative way.
Thus, In agreement with Myin &
Auvray, I propose to explain this
“acquired perception” as a cross-
modal perception, a multimodal
union of senses, whose vehicles
encompass bodily, environmental
and neural components.
Cross-Modal Union of Senses (It’s not
just hearing, nor merely seeing...)
In SSD perception, vision, touch and audition are merged
together to form a robust and coherent percept.
In SSD perception we are not merely replacing a sense that a
perceiver has for a sense they lack. Through the coupling
of the perceiver and the SSD we generate a novel,
augmented, and multimodal form of perception.
Crucially, this cross-modal perception differs from any
kind we normally enjoy when we are not using an SSD.
SSDs count as a case for augmentation inasmuch as they
are making a constitutive contribution towards the
emergence of a cognitive process. A contribution which
radically differs from that brought forth by the organism.
Reports say
“...There came a point when the sensation the device gave
me in the form of unfamiliar sounds turned into a perception
of shapes and colours. In a way you could think of it as, when
learning a new word in a foreign language, there comes a
point when you cease to translate the word in your head
every time you hear it, and instead automatically understand
its meaning”. (to Z.Capalbo, a Kromophone user).
Users also claim to be able to „see sounds‟ when not using
the vOICe. Their brains have internalized the vOICe„s rules
for mapping between hearing and vision, and the rules are
applied both when the device is worn and when it is not.
Thus, in contrast to the case of a cane for
blind persons,SSDs entail a profound
alteration of the individual‟s body schema,
which in turn causes a cross–modal union
of senses. Such a multimodal integration
ultimately augments the organism‟s
capabilities.