Externalization

Externalization means to put something outside of its original borders, especially to put a human function outside of the human body. The opposite of externalization is internalization.

In a concrete sense, by taking notes, we can externalize the function of memory which normally belongs in the brain.

In a more abstract sense, by inventing excuses, we can externalize the guilt associated with our actions.

In Freudian psychology, externalization is an unconscious defense mechanism, where an individual "projects" his own internal characteristics onto the outside world, particularly onto other people. For example, a patient who is overly argumentative might instead perceive others as argumentative and himself as blameless.

Like other defense mechanisms, externalization is a protection against anxiety and is, therefore, part of a normal, healthily-functioning mind. However, if taken to excess it can lead to the development of a neurosis.

The concept of "externalized cognition" stands for the phenomenical manifestation of "communicative signs, behavior or material artifacts" (Kuchka 2001:60), and it includes the entire spectrum of human arts and actions and even emotions at a more latent and subconscious level or explicitly. It is at the core of the modern anthropological pursuit, an emergent property of human activity in this planet, past and present. We are within it and depend on it to communicate and organize. It is composed of an incredibly complex textual, visual, auditory, sensual, tactile, olfactory, mental and spiritual informational substances and it is tremendously variable; involving the existence of direct continuities and breaks between traditions overtime and also possible broader relations and similarities, cross-culturally and throughout history and back into prehistory and what is strictly archaeological and paleoanthropological type of information. A cognition can be externalized and captured by archaeologists with such unusual techniques as 'palynology': The differences in frequencies of domestic versus wild pollens overtime can be extracted using cores in ancient silt deposits under the bottoms of lakes, reflecting relatively accurately the degree of human occupation in the particular area in question.

Kuchka, H.E., 2001. Method for Theory: A Prelude to Human Ecosystems. In Journal of Ecological Anthropology Vol.5 2001. web>> http://www.fiu.edu/~jea/home.html