GREAT thinkers are rarely fêted for their amazing bodies, but that may need a rethink. Evidence is emerging that we need our bodies as well as our brains to deal with numbers and other abstract concepts (see “Bodily minds: how we think outside the brain”).
This is quite a turnaround. Typically looked down upon as a vessel for our all-important brain, our bodies are now being recast as the crucial foundation of our minds. This has huge implications for the creation of artificial intelligences. Will they need bodies? Should they be human-like? Would a different body plan produce a different type of intelligence?
Education could benefit too. Schoolchildren often struggle with abstract mathematical concepts. Perhaps trying to learn while sat at a desk, discouraged from fidgeting, is like reading a textbook with your brain switched off.
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