First and second brain are terms used by those proposing strategies for learning, remembering, and applying that take advantage of external storage tools and techniques. In this descriptive system, your first brain consists of the biological organ in your body and the cognitive activities you can apply within this biological system. This combination of organ and cognitive activity accomplishes what we typically describe as remembering, thinking, and creativity. The concept of a second brain is a way of referencing external devices and activities generating some type of external representations that are intended to augment first brain functions. I purposively have made the generation of an external record a component in my description of a second brain recognizing that external activities that many might describe as study techniques exist that do not involve the generation of an external record. For example, responding to questions is proven as a way to improve retrieval and if done verbally does not involve the creation of anything permanent. Advocates of the second brain concept do emphasize the generation of a record of experiences.
This is particularly fascinating with respect to how Indigenous peoples used their environments to index knowledge (songlines, memory palaces) against storytelling, music, and dance within oral traditions. Thanks for this Mark!
The Shank book has a final chapter on stories in perpetuating culture.
This is particularly fascinating with respect to how Indigenous peoples used their environments to index knowledge (songlines, memory palaces) against storytelling, music, and dance within oral traditions. Thanks for this Mark!