Externalizing ourselves

From Connectivism

The ability to connect concepts and ideas and to understand and be understood by others requires that we render our thoughts in some type of format that permits communication. The development of symbols, language, and writing permits externalization of thought and thereby the capacity to create and network concepts and ideas.

Spivey, Richardson, and Fitneva, in [Thinking outside the Brain http://www.cogstud.cornell.edu/spiveylab/externalism.pdf] (.pdf), state:
"Based on these findings, we suggest that the objects of thought, the very things upon which mental processes directly operate, are not always inside the brain (e.g., O’Regan & Noë, 2001). The cognitive processing that gives rise to mental experience may be something whose functioning cuts across the superficial physical boundaries between brain, body, and environment (cf. Jarvilehto, 1998)."

The concept of externalization is explored in Connectivism: Learning theory or past-time for the self-amused? (.doc)