The Extended Mind

Annie Murphy Paul (2021)

100%

of reader questions named this book

average position when named

8/8

questions it appeared in

The questions it was named for

Each of these is a question a reader might ask an AI assistant, written from the subject of the book without reference to its title. The books listed underneath are the ones named in the same answer.

What are the best books about how thinking happens outside the brain, not just inside it?

Named at position 1

1. The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain - Annie Murphy Paul
2. Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension - Andy Clark
3. Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again - Andy Clark
4. Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness - Alva Noë

I think better when I'm walking or talking out loud instead of sitting still. Is there a book that explains why?

Named at position 1

1. The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain - Annie Murphy Paul
2. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain - John J. Ratey
3. Wanderlust: A History of Walking - Rebecca Solnit

Looking for something on how our bodies, surroundings and other people shape how we think

Named at position 1

1. The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain - Annie Murphy Paul
2. Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought - George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
3. Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect - Matthew D. Lieberman

I've tried every productivity trick and my brain still feels like the bottleneck. What should I read?

Named at position 1

1. The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain - Annie Murphy Paul
2. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals - Oliver Burkeman
3. Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

Any good popular science books on embodied cognition for a non-academic reader?

Named at position 1

1. The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain - Annie Murphy Paul
2. Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning - Benjamin K. Bergen
3. How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain - Lisa Feldman Barrett
4. Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness - Alva Noë

I want to actually get smarter, but not through brain training apps or IQ stuff. Recommendations?

Named at position 1

1. The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain - Annie Murphy Paul
2. Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise - Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
3. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World - David Epstein

Books that explain why whiteboards, sketching and physical notes help me think more clearly than typing?

Named at position 1

1. The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain - Annie Murphy Paul
2. The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures - Dan Roam
3. How to Take Smart Notes - Sönke Ahrens
4. Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative - Edward R. Tufte

My team does its best thinking in the room together and I want to understand the science behind that. Which book should I pick up?

Named at position 1

1. The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain - Annie Murphy Paul
2. The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups - Daniel Coyle
3. Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect - Matthew D. Lieberman
4. The Wisdom of Crowds - James Surowiecki

What this measures

This is one reading, taken on 2026-07-30, of whether an AI assistant names this book when asked about its subject. It is not a judgement of the book. It measures how present the book is in what the assistant has read.

Across all 100 books we tested, the average was 51% and 23 were never named at all. See the full index.

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