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Disposable software as extended cognition – discussion on R/PhilosophyOfMind

2 points| mcauldronism | 1 month ago |reddit.com

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mcauldronism|1 month ago

I've written a two-part series applying Clark & Chalmers' extended mind thesis (1998) to AI tools.

Part 1 covers the setup: if notebooks meet the criteria for extended cognition (reliable, accessible, trusted, endorsed), AI exceeds them.

Part 2 makes what I think is a novel argument: maintained software actually decays on these criteria over time. Disposable software — regenerated fresh each use — scores higher on reliability and trust.

The implication: the most cognitively reliable tools might be the ones we throw away.

I'm not an academic philosopher (though I did study Wittgenstein 20 years ago). Would genuinely welcome critique on whether this argument holds.

https://open.substack.com/pub/mcauldronism/p/where-do-you-en...

https://open.substack.com/pub/mcauldronism/p/the-maintenance...