The Growth Mind Set and Its Metaphor of the Brain as Muscle

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The idea of the brain as computer that process is some kind of imput and then generates an output, i think that we can all relate to. There's another metaphor that you also discuss in the book, this idea of thebrain as a muscle. I do have some issues with that metaphor, because, again, it's a very brain centric kind of metaphor. It focuses all of its fire power on the brain, on the idea that exercising the brain is how we make it stronger. And i think, in a way, it limits people who are very attached to the gross mind set. Because if simply exercising the brain harder and harder isn't getting you what you want, there

Annie Murphy Paul is an acclaimed science writer. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Scientific American, Slate, Time magazine, The Best American Science Writing, and other publications.

Our conversation focuses on the subject of her latest book, The Extended Mind, which is about how human cognition relies on our bodies, other people, and the material world. I loved this book and was thrilled to ask Annie about how this line of thinking plays out in the context of our heavily digitized lives.

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