From Notebooks to Institutions: The Case for Symbiotic Cognition.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Philosophy of Mind
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Cognition is often described as extended by external items, from simple artifacts to complex social structures.
• The term "coupling" is used broadly to describe the link between individuals and these extended cognitive elements.
• Existing literature often overlooks the fundamental differences between artifact-based and socially-based cognitive extension.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the radical difference between artifact-extended cognition and socially extended cognition.
• To introduce and define two distinct senses of cognitive extension: "implementation extension" and "impact extension."
• To propose a new term, "symbiotic cognition," for a specific type of social cognitive extension.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of the term "cognitive extension" and its various applications.
• Distinguishing between causal-functional notions (implementation extension) and normativity-based notions (impact extension).
• Examining the unique characteristics of social cognitive extension, particularly reciprocal co-constitution of capacities.

Main Results:

• Identified two distinct senses of cognitive extension: implementation extension (causal-functional) and impact extension (social normativity).
• Argued that these two senses are sufficiently different to warrant separate terminology.
• Highlighted that socially extended cognition, especially when involving reciprocal co-constitution, differs significantly from artifact-extended cognition.

Conclusions:

• The current understanding of "cognitive extension" conflates distinct phenomena.
• Implementation extension and impact extension represent fundamentally different ways cognition can be extended.
• The proposed term "symbiotic cognition" accurately captures the reciprocal and co-constitutive nature of social cognitive extension.