I read a concept in a book about the brain which explained that other things are extensions of the brain. For example writing extends the brain’s memory. Telephones (via the ears) extends the brain’s hearing. Television (via the eyes) extends the brain’s sight. One might argue these things don’t extend the brain, they extend the sense (hearing, sight, etc.) In any case these make the reach of the brain go beyond the physical space it occupies - - even to distant places and different times, even non-existent places and times.
The written word might be different because it doesn’t effect the brain until it is read. Books are on the shelves of the library but my mind is not engaged by the content until I read them. What about photographs, recordings, movies? When we engage these are we in some way in the presence of another’s brain?
Is a picture of nerve cells transmitting a signal from one to the other comparable to brains of individuals passing along information from one to the other? Perhaps a country is comparable to a brain, the various states or provenances exciting each other - - a collection of cells “exciting” one another. How about a corporation, is it a brain? Is the Earth a brain?
