# Embodied Cognition **Domain:** Cognitive Science / Body / Environment **Doc Type:** Canonical Concept Node **Maturity:** Foundational ## Definition **Embodied cognition** holds that cognition depends materially on bodily capacities, action and environmental coupling rather than occurring as abstract symbol manipulation alone. ## Evolutionary Nexus Animal biomechanics, primatology and human niche construction in [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] show intelligence developing through bodies inside environments. ## Continuity Context Moving memory or computation does not automatically preserve the sensorimotor organization through which a person became themselves. Receiving substrates must account for bodily feedback, affect and learned affordances. ## See Also [[wiki/Animal Biomechanics|Animal Biomechanics]], [[wiki/Remote Embodiment|Remote Embodiment]], [[wiki/Receiving Substrate|Receiving Substrate]], [[wiki/Human Factors|Human Factors]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "One of my many objections to "Artificial Intelligence" is its stark lack of any "Artificial Femininity." Real intelligence has gender, because human brains do." > **— Bruce Sterling**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Identity/Artificial Intelligence Lacks Artificial Femininity by Bruce Sterling|Artificial Intelligence Lacks Artificial Femininity by Bruce Sterling]] > "I envisage the human-computer interface as like having a helpful partner, and the more intelligent machines become the more helpful they can be partners." > **— Lawrence M. Krauss**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Human-Computer Interfaces Could Become Helpful Partners by Lawrence M. Krauss|Human-Computer Interfaces Could Become Helpful Partners by Lawrence M. Krauss]] > "For as long as thinking machines lack the limbic presence and imprecision of a chicken, computers will keep doing what they're so good at: providing answers. And so long as life is about more than answers, humans—and yes, even chickens—will stay in the loop." > **— Kevin Slavin**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Life Requires More Than Machine Answers by Kevin Slavin|Life Requires More Than Machine Answers by Kevin Slavin]] > "Love is the recipe for how to grow a human intelligence, a human set of skills and a human ability to think." > **— Tor Nørretranders**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Love Is the Recipe for Human Intelligence by Tor Nørretranders|Love Is the Recipe for Human Intelligence by Tor Nørretranders]] > "Few doubt that machines will surpass more and more of our distinctively human capabilities—or enhance them via cyborg technology." > **— Martin Rees**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Machines Will Surpass More Human Capabilities by Martin Rees|Machines Will Surpass More Human Capabilities by Martin Rees]] > "The "brain-body" view is dangerous because it requires many scientists to change the way they think: it allows back common sense interactions between brain and body that medical science feels uncomfortable with, makes more sense of feelings like falling in love and requires a different approach for people who are trying to create machines with human-like intelligence. And if this all sounds like mere assertion, there's plenty of interesting research out there to back it up." > **— Alun Anderson**, *2006, Edge Annual Question, “What Is Your Dangerous Idea?”* [[reminders/Consciousness/Brains Cannot Become Minds Without Bodies by Alun Anderson|Brains Cannot Become Minds Without Bodies by Alun Anderson]] > “Human beings have an amazingly flexible sense of self. If we don a pair of high resolution goggles showing the point of view from another body, with feedback and control, we perceive ourselves to be that body. As we use rudimentary or complex tools, these quickly become familiar extensions of our bodies and minds.” > **— Antony Garrett Lisi**, *“Changes in the Changers,” Edge Annual Question, 2009* [[reminders/Identity/Tools Can Become Extensions of Our Bodies and Minds by Antony Garrett Lisi|Tools Can Become Extensions of Our Bodies and Minds by Antony Garrett Lisi]] ## Relationships - **Edge Annual Question source relationship:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] preserves the annual-question source corpus from which a proposition-specific quotation is connected to this entry.