* * * * *
                                        
                     More on that “tool vs. crutch” debate
                                        
> An empirical test of ideas proposed by Martin Heidegger shows the great
> German philosopher to be correct: Everyday tools really do become part of
> ourselves.
> 
> The findings come from a deceptively simple study of people using a
> computer mouse rigged to malfunction. The resulting disruption in attention
> wasn’t superficial. It seemingly extended to the very roots of cognition.
> 
> “The person and the various parts of their brain and the mouse and the
> monitor are so tightly intertwined that they're just one thing,” said
> Anthony Chemero, a cognitive scientist at Franklin & Marshall College. “The
> tool isn't separate from you. It's part of you.”
> 

“Your Computer Really Is a Part of You | Wired Science | Wired.com [1]”

More food for thought in the tool vs. crutch debate [2] …

[1] http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/heidegger-tools/
[2] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2009/11/03.1

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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