Beyond the Brain: How Body and Environment Shape Animal and Human Minds

283 Pages·2011·1.85 MB·English

by  Louise Barrett

(cid:2)
BEYOND THE BRAIN
This page intentionally left blank
(cid:2)
B E YO N D T H E B R A I N

How Body and Environment
Shape Animal and Human Minds
Louise Barrett
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Copyright © 2011 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barrett, Louise.
Beyond the brain : how body and environment shape animal and human minds /
Louise Barrett.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-12644-9 (hardback)
1. Brain—Evolution. 2. Evolution (Biology) 3. Ecology. I. Title.
QL933.B27 2011
591.5—dc22
2010048477
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Perpetua
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
(cid:2)
For Gary
This page intentionally left blank
(cid:2)
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1
Removing Ourselves from the Picture 1
Chapter 2
The Anthropomorphic Animal 20
Chapter 3
Small Brains, Smart Behavior 39
Chapter 4
The Implausible Nature of P ortia 57
Chapter 5
When Do You Need a Big Brain? 71
Chapter 6
The Ecology of Psychology 94
Chapter 7
Metaphorical Mind Fields 112
Chapter 8
There Is No Such Thing as a Naked Brain 135
Chapter 9
World in Action 152
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 10
Babies and Bodies 175
Chapter 11
Wider than the Sky 197
Epilogue 223
Notes 2 25
References 2 51
Index 2 69
(cid:2)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
he nice thing about writing a book, if you’re a fan of distributed cog-
nition, is that it lets you practice what you preach. This book could
never have been written if I hadn’t borrowed all the brains that I could, to
echo Woodrow Wilson. Some of the brains I borrowed were distributed
in other books and articles, but there is also a more embodied means of
exploiting other people’s brains as a resource, and I have been very lucky
to fi nd myself in an environment full of smart, enthusiastic people who
were more than happy to share their expertise and knowledge with me
face-to-face.
F irst, thanks to my editors at Princeton, Alison Kalett, who saw the
project through to completion, and also Robert Kirk and Sam Elworthy,
who got it all going in the fi rst place. The book took much longer to
write than it should have—which is why I managed to get through three
editors—and their patience, good advice, and immense tolerance is very
much appreciated.
Thanks must also go to all the students who have taken my class on
embodied cognition at the University of Lethbridge; their thoughts,
ideas, comments, and suggestions have, I hope, helped make this a more
accessible and interesting read than if I’d been left to my own devices.
In particular, thanks to Kerri Norman, Michael Amirault, Stacey Vine,
Stefanie Duguay, Clarissa Foss, Eric Stock, Kevin Mikulak, Beverley John-
son, Andy Billey, Danielle Marsh, Alena Greene, Nicole Whale-Kienzle,
Joseph Vanderfl uit, Amanda Smith, Brad Duce, Brett Case, Joseph Mac-
Donald, Kevin Schenk, Mecole Maddeaux-Young, Jordon Giroux, Shand
Watson, Joel Woodruff , and Ben Lowry.
I ’m also very grateful to the following friends, students, and col-
leagues for reading and commenting on various chapters and drafts: April
Takahashi, Tom Rutherford, Carling Nugent, Natalie Freeman, Graham
Pasternak, Doug Vanderlaan, Shannon Digweed, Craig Roberts, and John