In 1998, the philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers published a paper entitled The Extended Mind . There, they argued that external objects – books, computers and smartphones – spread cognitive processes beyond the boundaries of the individual mind, becoming (literally) part of the mind itself. And with that, the idea of "active externalism" or “extended cognition” was born. Sound bizarre? The idea, though it flies in the face of our intuitions, feels strangely compelling

“Pens are dead. Paper is dead. Handwriting is a relic.” That was the Guardian’s declaration back in 2015 .  And little wonder: we have raised a generation of digital natives, whose grasp of Grammarly, word processing software, and now AI tools, has reshaped how they communicate, learn, and solve problems.  Yet, research shows that putting pen to paper offers cognitive benefits that digital tools can’t replicate. Handwriting leads to “widespread brain connectivity” A recent st