Book SummaryThe Extended Mind, by Annie Murphy Paul

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Extended Mind

If you imagine a genius scientist or philosopher, you may picture someone sitting alone, lost in thought, slowly formulating their world-changing ideas entirely in their head. However, truly effective thinking could look very different. In The Extended Mind, science writer Annie Murphy Paul argues that optimal cognition isn’t about withdrawing deeper into our minds—it’s about engaging more with the world outside of our heads. Intelligence has less to do with our neurobiology and more to do with how well we use the external world to enhance our thinking.

According to Paul, people who know how to make use of external aids have such a cognitive advantage because modern society is at odds with our neurobiology. Our brains evolved to suit a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in which we were actively engaged with our bodies, the world around us, and our relationships with each other. However, the world has quickly changed, and our society, full of abstract ideas, artificial environments, and social isolation, no longer stimulates our brains in a way that unlocks their full potential.

Once you start thinking in a way that suits your brain’s biology, Paul argues that you can tap into your full cognitive potential. Specifically, you can learn and understand complex ideas more thoroughly, focus more intently on your goals, come up with more creative solutions to your problems, and communicate, collaborate, and empathize more effectively with those around you.

In this guide, we’ll cover three categories of strategies: We’ll begin by detailing the ways you can use your body to...

The Extended Mind Summary Enhancing Cognition Using Your Body

The first way you can use external aids to enhance your cognition is by actively engaging with your body. By paying attention to how your body feels and how you’re choosing to move it, Paul argues, you can access a more expansive way of thinking.

Let’s examine four strategies for how to use your body to think more effectively.

Strategy #1: Listen to Your Body

Paul asserts that by becoming more sensitive to how your body feels, you can access a wealth of quick and accurate subconscious knowledge. The brain perceives and stores vastly more information than you’re aware of, and it understands far more complex and subtle patterns than you can consciously grasp. This subconscious information manifests as an intuition you can feel in your body as subtle physical sensations.

Consequently, research has shown that people with greater bodily awareness display instinctive skills in cognitively demanding domains. In one study, researchers found that financial traders who could more accurately report the rhythm of their heartbeat made more profitable decisions than traders who were less aware of their bodies.

(Shortform note: Contrary to the outcome of this study, Mark Douglas...

The Extended Mind Summary Enhancing Cognition Using the Physical World

Now that we’ve discussed how to incorporate your entire body into the act of thinking, let’s expand our focus outward. The second way we can use external aids to enhance our cognition is by more intentionally engaging with the immediate physical world around us.

Let’s take a look at two strategies for using external objects and the environment around us to think more effectively.

Strategy #1: Give Your Thoughts Physical Form

If you’re trying to learn something, solve a problem, or generate new insights, Paul recommends giving your thoughts physical form—whether by writing them down, representing them in images, or modeling them in some other tactile way. Moving your thoughts from your head into the physical world means that you don’t have to actively remember as much, giving you more mental capacity to think effectively.

(Shortform note: Many experts argue that a strict system dictating how to habitually externalize your thoughts is the key to personal organization. For instance, The Bullet Journal Method, Getting Things Done, and _[Building a Second...

The Extended Mind Summary Enhancing Cognition Using Other People

We’ve covered how to expand your thinking with the body and the physical world, taking advantage of the fact that our brains thrive in a tactile, physical environment. Now, let’s explore how to take advantage of the fact that our brains thrive in a social environment.

Here are three strategies for enhancing your thinking with the help of other people.

Strategy #1: Imitate Others

If you want to learn a new skill or accomplish a goal, Paul suggests closely imitating a highly skilled expert. Humans are naturally proficient imitators: As children, we learn everything about navigating the world by imitating those around us. Thus, imitating an established expert is one of the most effective ways to learn and succeed.

Strategic imitation involves more than mimicking exactly what someone else does—most of the time, imitation requires you to interpret experts’ actions and adjust them to suit your specific situation. To do this effectively, you must understand not only what the experts do but also why they’re doing it.

For example, if you want to become a sci-fi screenwriter, Paul might suggest writing a story that imitates Star Wars. If you just imitate it...

Shortform Exercise: Reflect on Paul’s Strategies for Enhancing Cognition

You’ve learned a total of nine strategies for using your body, your environment, and your personal connections to enhance your thinking. Think back to memorable strategies from each category and consider how you might implement them in your life.

Which of Paul’s strategies for using the body to enhance your thinking appeals to you the most, and why? Describe how you might integrate this strategy into your daily routine. (For example, perhaps you like the idea of learning to listen to the body because you’ve been meaning to start a meditation practice for a while. To make this strategy part of your routine, you could set an alarm every morning to prompt you to meditate for five minutes.)