The Tools of Enculturation

Summary

Macquarie University’s Richard Menary and Alexander Gillett argue that “human cognition is pervasively and profoundly enculturated and not just at the surface”. Tools like maps, numbers and writing aren’t props we offload thinking onto; learning their practices changes our brains and bodies, as wayfinding shows. Which means “we can now think and act in new ways with cognitive tools.”

Rationale

We use enculturation in its newer sense, beyond inheritance to how we “embody, enact, make sense of and remake culture”. This paper makes the cognitive case for that wider reading.