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Tool Use Is Just a Trick of the Mind

Posted by kdawson on from the my-tool-myself dept.

TwistedOne151 writes to recommend a ScienceNOW article describing the work of a team of Italian neurobiologists who have found the roots of the capacity for tool use in the primate brain: the brain treats the tool as part of the body. The experiment as described is passing clever.

4 of 326 comments (clear)

  1. Define:tool by Zekasu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, essentially, a computer is an extension of my body?

    Concievably, input, output, and expected responses could be considered an extension, but what about thought process? Is this similar to the human body considering a crutch as an extension of the body while walking?

    Somehow, I sense that "tool" is too broad of a word, or perhaps too distorted of a definition, to be used when referring to, well, tools. If I give a thousand monkeys one typewriter each, does that typerwriter become considered as an extension? I can understand a pair of pliers being considered a mechanical extension to the hand, but what about the actually pressing of keys?

    1. Re:Define:tool by Fourier404 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'd like to see the differences when you physically aim a gun and when you move the mouse while playing bf2.

    2. Re:Define:tool by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So, essentially, a computer is an extension of my body?

      Sure, why not? For a trained operator, the keyboard and mouse become second nature. Staring at the monitor, the operator learns to block out visual information outside of the screen. Many users even use headphones, further tying them to the machine.

      I can tell you that when my fingers dance across the keyboard, I'm not really putting a whole lot of thought into the keyboard. Instead, I'm putting thought into the words I'm attempting to type, or the command I'm attempting to communicate with the combination of keys.
      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  2. Re:Actually not true by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Competent driving requires time and practice...repetitive situations that are eventually rehearsed subconsciously (to the point of prediction) that make it appear that the driver is adept, when in actuality, there is a specific percentage of basic scenarios that have simply been memorized.
    Indeed. Just like competent walking or running requires time and practice. Repetitive situations that are eventually rehearsed subconsciously (to the point of prediction) that make it appear that the individual is adept at locomotion, when in actuality, there is a specific percentage of basic scenarios that have simply been memorized.

    Yet I can still attempt a long jump or attempt to skid my car in the snow without the memorized steps. I won't be very good at either one my first time out, but I'll "get the hang of it" after a while.

    You can't take a driver used to a sub-compact and expect them to apply their familiarity with a small sedan to a large tractor-trailer, as an example.
    Hey, you try waking up the next morning a foot taller and 150 pounds heavier, and lets see how well you take your first steps, Mister! ;-)
    --
    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade