This note is a part of my Zettelkasten. What is below might not be complete or accurate. It is also likely to change often.
11th July, 2020

Brainlet

Not to be confused with the meme. This is Alan Kay's definition.

Brainlets are powerful tools to let us extend and correct the noisy channels that our body has. They help us understand our shortcomings and get around our flaws. We have been especially prolific in these in the last 400 years.

Some examples of Brainlets are:

  • overcoming capacity limits of the human brain
    • Language
      • creates structures to abstract ideas into words, thus creating capacity for more complex thought
    • Writing down ideas
      • Overcomes limits on working memory and allow ideas to be scrutinized in a solid form
    • Books
      • Overcomes limits on long term storage and recall
  • in the form of Sensory apparatus
    • Telescopes, Microscopes, rulers, bolometry, EMR, etc
  • in the form of reasoning apparatus
    • Logic
    • Maths
    • Computing
    • Statistics
  • in the form of perspective changers
    • We dont see things are they are, we see things as we are - Talmund
    • The world is not as it seems
    • Science and its process
    • Fractally Similar