Extended Mind/Extended Body

Here’s an episode of one of my favorite podcasts, Philosophy Bites, on the concept of the “Extended Mind” (you can listen on iTunes or the Podcast app). Philosopher Andy Clark describes his theory that our mind is not limited to the walls of our biological skull, but that the tools/technologies we use to access our short and long-term memories (such as a notepad and pen, or a smartphone) are also a part of our consciousness. We have been learning how contingent our perceptions are on our ecology,  could we broaden Clark’s concept to encompass interactions with the natural world? (Philosophy Bites also has an episode with Graham Priest on the Buddhist concept of no-self, if the Mountains & Rivers sutra piqued your interest).

The image above is from the company Capsula Mundi, which will bury your ashes in a biodegradable pod. The egg-shaped pod is buried in a specific plot of earth, and its nutrients help grow a tree that is then planted above it. At the moment, they only bury the ashes, but they are working on a prototype for the whole body. Rather than engraved stone, you can find your loved one’s plot via GPS.

Each tree serves as a natural marker of a person’s life, and a reminder that in life as well as in death, we are not separate from the earth. Implementing this technology on a wide scale could replace cemeteries with sacred forests. Rather than ordaining an individual tree to stop logging, a grove of ancestors is planted like an army of guardians for the sacred forest. I’m intrigued by this futuristic design, and am wondering if these sacred forests could double as public parks, to really inculcate the idea that we are inseparable from the earth.