Extended Mind

“In philosophy of mind, the extended mind thesis says that the mind does not exclusively reside in the brain or even the body, but extends into the physical world. The thesis proposes that some objects in the external environment can be part of a cognitive process and in that way function as extensions of the mind itself. Examples of such objects are written calculations, a diary, or a PC; in general, it concerns objects that store information. The hypothesis considers the mind to encompass every level of cognition, including the physical level.

It was proposed by Andy Clark and David Chalmers in The Extended Mind (1998). They describe the idea as ‘active externalism, based on the active role of the environment in driving cognitive processes.’”