External cognition is any information processing done outside of your mind that remains useful to you. We also say that storage is a form of information processing as it allows us to treat memory related operations as part of the definition. ###### Basic Example Let's demonstrate external cognition using the example task of adding two numbers. This task is fairly simple. For small numbers, we just count, and if we can and need, use a few shortcuts. This is all done mentally, without any external help. However, when we try to add longer numbers, it becomes harder to do just in our heads. For example, try adding $12837123 + 17231232$. It's probably going to take a while, and you might make a few mistakes. It's not that we don't know how to do it, it's that our working memory is being capped out. Here is where we can demonstrate external cognition. If we now write down these numbers onto the page, we can now do [column addition](https://www.twinkl.com.au/teaching-wiki/column-method-of-addition-and-subtraction). This makes completing the calculation very easy. What we have just done is offloaded our working memory onto the page. The page is now storing the information for us. Performing information processing, outside of our own mind, while still being useful to us. Taking it a step further, if we had to add many long digits, we probably don't want to do it by hand. We probably want to use a calculator. What does a calculator do? Well it completes the calculation for us. Performs the information processing using bits in its computer, and shows us the result. We have offloaded the entire process of calculation to this electronic device, which can somehow do what we just did. Isn't that magical? Another example of external cognition. In this piece, I have simply defined external cognition and illustrated an example. There will be many more pieces on this topic. Many more will come. ###### Pieces TBC # ============= [[External Cognition 0.1 (Preview)]] [[External Cognition 0.2]]