Four waves of extension

also: Cztery fale rozszerzeń · Four waves of cognitive extension · 4 waves of human extension

The historical sequence of cognitive extensions: writing (~5000 BCE, memory), print (~1450, distribution), the internet (~1990, access), AI/LLM (~2022, processing). Wave 4 as a qualitative threshold.

The historical sequence of extensions of human cognition through technology:

  1. Writing (~5000 BCE) — externalization of memory
  2. Print (~1450) — distribution of knowledge
  3. The internet (~1990) — instant access to knowledge
  4. AI/LLM (~2022) — externalization of processing itself (reasoning)

Why wave 4 is a threshold, not another step

The first 3 waves extended memory and access — all the processing stayed inside the skull. Wave 4 is the first to perform operations on meaning: it reasons, synthesizes, critiques. Writing: “remember this for me”. Print: “hand this out to others”. The internet: “find this for me”. AI: “think this through with me”.

Patterns accompanying the waves

Each wave: (a) strips the existing knowledge intermediaries of their monopoly, (b) triggers a “this will make us stupid” panic (Plato on writing in the Phaedrus), which is half right, (c) gets adopted faster than the previous one because it rides on its predecessor’s infrastructure — millennia → centuries → decades → months.

Compact table: chapter 1. Full treatment with the “who lost the monopoly” and “adoption time” columns: chapter 2.