Keil-Slawik, R. (1992): Artifacts in Software Design. In: Floyd, C. et al. (Hrsg.): Software Development and Reality Construction. Berlin (Springer). S. 168-188 Floyd, 1992, Artifacts as external memory(179-181).

To perform so-called mental operations, we are much more dependent on our physical environment, and consequently on our bodily actions, than is generally acknowledged. Our perceptual faculties, for instance, are quite limited. By direct perception, i.e., without starting a counting or calculating process, we can only distinguish up to four items. As G. Ifrah points out, all additive numbering schemes (symbolic representations of the tally system) of differnt cultures introduce a new symbol by the fifth position at the latest. This allows us to group the symbols on a higher level, thus enabeling us to perceive greater numbers more easily under the same perceptual constraints (179). (Vgl. Ifrah, 1987). The modifications of the physical apperarance (states) of artifacts - such as the positions on paper - are an indispensable part of our mental activities. The states of a tool, as well as the calculations performed with a pencil on paper, serve as an external memory which allows as to check the (interim) results, and to reflect on the process as such (179).

K sieht in der Turing Maschine das vorläufige Ende einer Entwicklung von der mentalen Operation zum externen Gedächtnis und damit ein Mittel, um die physikalischen Operationen von Transformation und Anordnung von Symbolen auszuführen, entsprechend einem gegebenen Regelwerk, das mit demselben Mittel formuliert ist (180). Er verweist im Zusammenhang mit formalen Sprachen auf Krämer, 1988 , 176-183 (179).

According to A. Leroi-Gourhan, it can be generally said that evolution of the human mind is basically the evolution of its expressive means (180). Leroi-Gourhan, 1988. These expressive means or artifacts embody a new quality. As the result of insightful learning, they are more than the sum of their parts. Neither the invention of zero nor that of bow and arrow could have been achieved by imitating something which already existed. And there was no sequence of development steps or interim results that enable the artifact to be deduce systematically (180f). One essential difference between animals and human beings is not the construction of tools - that animals do as well - but their preservation (181). Preservation = Aufbewahrung. Nur dadurch können ältere Werkzeuge mit neuen verglichen, über sie kommuniziert und für die Erziehung genutzt werden (ebd.) (...) owing to their physical nature, artifacts functions as external memory, thus faciliating communication and learning (ebd.)

externes Gedächtnis, Denken, Turing Maschine, Formale Sprache, Artefakt