Mind Amplifier

In 2012, TED asked me to write an e-book. I decided that designers of mind-amplifying tools for thought needed to know more about Ivan Illich, Walter Ong, Eleanor Ostrom -- the non-electronic, non-software contexts for thinking tools, from speech and writing, the alphabet and printing press to smartphones and search engines. The book is now available as a free PDF. Here is what TED had to say about the publication:

It’s a complaint we’ve all heard about the internet: all the cat videos and incessant celebrity gossip sites are making us, as a culture, stupider.

However, digital community expert Howard Rheingold, doesn’t think that’s the case. In fact, he believes that both designing and using digital media can actually improve our intelligence. As Rheingold sees it, human beings have the unique ability to build tools — like alphabets, speech, writing, and printing — that leverage our ability to think and cooperate. When it comes to computers and the Internet, Rheingold says there’s potential for us to systematically direct the evolution of intelligence.

Mind Amplifier: Can Our Digital Tools Make Us Smarter? examines the origins of digital mind-extending tools, and lays out the foundations for their future. In it, Rheingold proposes an applied, interdisciplinary science of mind amplification. He also unveils a new protocol for developing techno-cognitive-social technologies that embrace empathy, mindfulness, and compassion — elements lacking from existing digital mind-tools.