/sci/ - Science & Math

Computer networking

It already was born, to describe it will require me to describe a few necessary concepts first.

The extended phenotype is a concept coined by Richard Dawkins (who also coined the word "meme") to describe the effects of an organism's genes beyond that of the organism's body. The classic example is that a beaver dam is the extended phenotype of beaver genes, and also all the effects of a beaver dam on the waterway and surrounding landscape. From a gene-centric perspective there's no reason to stop at the body of the organism when defining "organism," and the concept of organism becomes hazy with a long tail of causal influence that interacts with those of other organisms as well.

Similarly, extended cognition extends mental processes and the mind "beyond the body to include aspects of the environment in which an organism is embedded and the organism's interaction with that environment." This includes the tools we use, and written language, which was a phenomenal enhancement of our extended cognition, allowing us to use external memory to enhance our cognitive capabilities and reach to profound degrees. Calculators, computers, and cell phones are other obvious examples, and the internet has extended our cognition to degrees we don't fully appreciate. The internet is nothing less than a phenomenal expansion of our collective unconscious, which has shown by it magnifying both the neuroses and virtues of human psychology.

>Growth, innovation, scaling and the pace of life in cities

by my man Geoffery West

http://www.pnas.org/content/104/17/7301.long