The Impact of Smartphones on the Mind

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Theory of mind has real practical effects on how I view something like my iPhone or, you know, my laptop. And all because of just a different way of understanding the concept of the mind. So why don't we jump into what their claims are? There's a couple of different claims. One is that it's not whether it's trapped in your skull; It's the accessibility. That's the important thing. The other one is that they have an implant inside of your head that sort of gives you computational information.

David and Tamler break down a recent classic in the philosophy of mind: "The Extended Mind" by Andy Clark and David Chalmers. What is boundary of your mind? Is it contained with your body, or does it extend to the external environment--to your laptop, notebook, smartphone and more? Is this a purely terminological question, or one with practical and moral significance? And what is the role of intuition in providing an answer? Plus, Dave shares an email alerting him to the psychological trauma of male circumcision along with an exciting all-natural method for restoring the foreskin (that was stolen from us as infants).

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