"Another extraneural resource available for our use is physical space. Moving mental contents out of our heads and onto the space of a sketch pad or whiteboard allows us to inspect it with our senses, a cognitive bonus that the psychologist Daniel Reisberg calls “the detachment gain.” "
I'm in the beginning stages of developing a journaling workshop. I've read about some studies that show how writing down your thoughts and feelings goes a long way toward understanding and processing those feelings: according to the studies, it's because the feelings are "put into language" rather than just left to bounce around in your mind. Could it also be that writing it down on paper "allows us to inspect it with our senses"? I need to read more about this!
The journaling workshop sounds great! I talk about the "detachment gain" that we get from putting our thoughts down on paper on pages 153-155 of The Extended Mind. Here's a passage from that section:
"This is one of the unique affordances of an external representation: we can apply one or more of our physical senses to it. "Seeing” an image in our mind’s eye is not the same as seeing it on the page. Daniel Reisberg, a professor emeritus of psychology at Reed College in Oregon, calls this shift in perspective the “detachment gain”: the cognitive benefit we receive from putting a bit of distance between ourselves and the content of our minds. When we do so, we can see more clearly what that content is made of —how many stripes are on the tiger, so to speak. This measure of space also allows us to activate our powers of recognition. We leverage these powers whenever we write down two or more ways to spell a word, seeking the one that “looks right.” The curious thing about this common practice is that we do tend to know immediately which spelling appears correct—indicating that this is knowledge we already possess but can’t access until it is externalized."
This is fantastic—thank you so much. Having written in a journal for decades, I know firsthand the value of getting things out of my head and on to the page. But this is the first time I've read *about* journaling and it's truly fascinating—not to mention validating—to learn the whys and wherefores. "Detachment gain" says it all.
I am a student of BKS Iyengar, the highly respected yoga teacher.
His teaching & approach to yoga embodies the conclusions that are in the book The Extended Mind (which I have loved reading!).
In his lifetime, he implored us to get out of our heads and into our bodies, to merge the intelligence of the head with that of the body. The aim is not so much to "gain" intelligence, but rather to "refine" our intelligence.
He used "alignment" as a tool for this conversation between brain & body. As an example, in the yoga posture, he might say "the hand should align with the shoulder". Sounds simplistic, ineffectual perhaps — but to a practitioner this is the canvas for the refinement of intelligence.
Another example pertaining to his method of teaching was the use external objects (referred to as props). In performing a posture the wall, or the floor, or a yoga brick would be used. This facilitated the conversation between the brain, the body. The prop became a tool to facilitate and amplify the conversation between the brain and the body.
He often referred to the intelligence of our cells, and would say "every pore of the skin has to become an eye.!
From his book, Light on Life:
" You must observe and correct the body position (adjusting it from both sides) with the help of the trillions of eyes that you have in the form of cells. This is how you begin to bring awareness to your body and fuse the intelligence of brain and brawn. This intelligence should exist everywhere in your body and throughout the asana. The moment you lose the feeling in the skin, the asana becomes dull, and the flow or current of the intelligence is lost.”
"Another extraneural resource available for our use is physical space. Moving mental contents out of our heads and onto the space of a sketch pad or whiteboard allows us to inspect it with our senses, a cognitive bonus that the psychologist Daniel Reisberg calls “the detachment gain.” "
I'm in the beginning stages of developing a journaling workshop. I've read about some studies that show how writing down your thoughts and feelings goes a long way toward understanding and processing those feelings: according to the studies, it's because the feelings are "put into language" rather than just left to bounce around in your mind. Could it also be that writing it down on paper "allows us to inspect it with our senses"? I need to read more about this!
The journaling workshop sounds great! I talk about the "detachment gain" that we get from putting our thoughts down on paper on pages 153-155 of The Extended Mind. Here's a passage from that section:
"This is one of the unique affordances of an external representation: we can apply one or more of our physical senses to it. "Seeing” an image in our mind’s eye is not the same as seeing it on the page. Daniel Reisberg, a professor emeritus of psychology at Reed College in Oregon, calls this shift in perspective the “detachment gain”: the cognitive benefit we receive from putting a bit of distance between ourselves and the content of our minds. When we do so, we can see more clearly what that content is made of —how many stripes are on the tiger, so to speak. This measure of space also allows us to activate our powers of recognition. We leverage these powers whenever we write down two or more ways to spell a word, seeking the one that “looks right.” The curious thing about this common practice is that we do tend to know immediately which spelling appears correct—indicating that this is knowledge we already possess but can’t access until it is externalized."
This is fantastic—thank you so much. Having written in a journal for decades, I know firsthand the value of getting things out of my head and on to the page. But this is the first time I've read *about* journaling and it's truly fascinating—not to mention validating—to learn the whys and wherefores. "Detachment gain" says it all.
I am a student of BKS Iyengar, the highly respected yoga teacher.
His teaching & approach to yoga embodies the conclusions that are in the book The Extended Mind (which I have loved reading!).
In his lifetime, he implored us to get out of our heads and into our bodies, to merge the intelligence of the head with that of the body. The aim is not so much to "gain" intelligence, but rather to "refine" our intelligence.
He used "alignment" as a tool for this conversation between brain & body. As an example, in the yoga posture, he might say "the hand should align with the shoulder". Sounds simplistic, ineffectual perhaps — but to a practitioner this is the canvas for the refinement of intelligence.
Another example pertaining to his method of teaching was the use external objects (referred to as props). In performing a posture the wall, or the floor, or a yoga brick would be used. This facilitated the conversation between the brain, the body. The prop became a tool to facilitate and amplify the conversation between the brain and the body.
He often referred to the intelligence of our cells, and would say "every pore of the skin has to become an eye.!
From his book, Light on Life:
" You must observe and correct the body position (adjusting it from both sides) with the help of the trillions of eyes that you have in the form of cells. This is how you begin to bring awareness to your body and fuse the intelligence of brain and brawn. This intelligence should exist everywhere in your body and throughout the asana. The moment you lose the feeling in the skin, the asana becomes dull, and the flow or current of the intelligence is lost.”