The brain has evolved over evolutionary time scales of millions of years. So, what is the likelihood that the relatively recent advent of reading and writing, or motorized transport, or the Internet, could have changed our brains?

On the other hand, we know that modernity, which we can think of as the emergence of psychologically modern human beings some 50,000 years ago or more, is the history of ever-evolving ways of doing things, ever-changing technologies and systems for coping — from pictures to systems of writing to instruments for building to practices of exchange and cooperation among groups. And with all these changes and development, we acquire not only new things to think about, but new styles of thinking.

How could this not change our brains? To read more from ALVA NOË, click here.