Extended Mind Theory

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before i get into the title and meaning of the song

i want to note that this song was difficult to finish

because somewhere along the mixing process,

i added wayyy too many supporting layers and it got completely washed out

and i had the vivid reminder that this whole audio gallery is about trying to do 

what is most true for the song itself as an individual work of music

and remaining to the intent of myself when i was writing it

so i actually aborted at version 12 and 

went back to version 7, where i left it in may.

(a screenshot of the mixer settings from version 12 

is in the session artifacts. you'll see)

i say this to say: 

to the artist who may be reading this

when returning to your earlier "unfinished work", 

resist the urge to overcomplicate it with new ideas.

do what needs to be done to finish those ideas, 

no more, no less.

alright buckle up

right around the day i started writing this song

i read a New Yorker article about Andy Clark

and in it they discuss an idea he coined and developed 

with David Chalmers called the "extended mind".

You can and should read their whole paper on David Chalmers' website.

it was so appealing to me i worked it into my philosophy 101 final paper

defending the position of physicalism.

(Parts of my paper were included in my explanation of Substance Duelist.)

Here's what made it in the paper relating to the extended mind:

...

Clark and Chalmers outline the tenets of the extended mind theory, which presents the stories of Otto and Inga, who both live in New York City. Inga hears that there is a new exhibit at MoMa.  She decides to go. She remembers that MoMa is on 53rd street, and walks to the exhibit. Otto has Alzheimer's, and uses a notebook to recall names, addresses, and phone numbers. He hears about the exhibit and decides to go. He takes out his notebook, and sees that MoMa is on 53rd street, and also walks to the exhibit.  In these two stories, Otto’s notebook served the same role as Inga’s biological memory. It represents the recollection of a non-occurrent belief in both cases, except Otto’s belief is manifested externally.

If our cognitive processes and memories can be stored externally, 

why not consciousness? 

If we removed the part of Inga’s brain that could form or recall memory, 

it would have much the same effect in the story as if Otto’s notebook were lost. 

In a universe of unified physical substance, 

the physical boundary becomes its only unique defining characteristic. 

The morphology of the physical body is built in such a way 

to suggest that the brain is the center of the mind, 

but it really is just the location of the “notebook.” 

Our ability to ascribe mental states is 

the summation of the tools given to us to observe our environment. 

Our ability to record and recall beliefs or memories 

extends beyond our physical boundaries. 

...

so you may be asking yourself

"what the hell did i just read and what does it have to do with this song?"

you have thoughts inside your head and thoughts outside your head

watch:

look at an object next to you. 

think of how you got it for a few seconds.

now... is that memory in your mind, or at the place where it happened?

or....does the object reflect the memory of obtaining it?

are these thoughts happening inside of your head, or outside of your head?

do you remember all of your friend's phone numbers?

or does your phone remember all of your friend's phone numbers for you?

when you take a photo of yourself...

is your mind in your head or in your hand?

that's what was in the back of my head when i was writing this

and it's weird because now i think of this theory whenever i hear this song

but i kind of pick up where i left off so it kind of feels like 

the song is storing my thoughts about it and the theory together

and now you might too