For a long time, the prevailing belief was that we learn and engage in thought and intellectual work best when alone and sitting quietly – with nothing but our minds. However, our minds were not designed for the increasingly complex, abstract ideas that bombard us in the modern world.
In “The Extended Mind,” science journalist Annie Murphy Paul shows, based on numerous scientific studies, how we can dramatically improve our cognitive abilities by extending our minds to include our bodies, our environment, and our relationships.
We can pay attention to bodily signals, engage our brains through physical activity, create an inspiring environment, or take walks in nature, as many historical figures have done. We can collaborate with colleagues on a flip chart or attach and rearrange sticky notes on a bulletin board.
Even expanding the computer desktop across multiple monitors can noticeably relieve the brain, as it leverages one of the brain’s fundamental functions – spatial orientation – by positioning different programs in distinct locations. Moving digital data around the room with our hands, as Tom Cruise did in Minority Report, has not yet become a reality. Still, it impressively demonstrates how mental extensions can drastically improve our ability to absorb and process information.
The author has thoroughly researched and bases all principles on numerous exciting and impressive research findings. All of you who feel like you can’t fit more into your head can breathe a sigh of relief: you don’t have to – instead, calmly tap into the resources outside your brain!
🎧 Suitable as an audiobook? Yes.
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