A.3 - Distributed Cognition Systems in College Culture

Perhaps a less professional example of a distributed cognition system, but a novel cultural phenomenon nonetheless, is the 21st birthday as celebrated by many young adults across America. The tradition as many of us know it is to visit known bars, clubs, etc. with a group off friends and/or family and to be served legally for the first time. As unhealthy and ill advisable as this task may be, the goal of this group is to accompany the birthday person while he/she consumes 21 alcoholic beverages in a single evening.

What I observed in my experience with this tradition was a cognitive system with loosely coupled activities giving way to more tightly coupled activities as the night progressed. Compensating for the decreasing cognitive abilities of the birthday person results in increased coupling with members of the birthday "group". Early on however, the cognitive system is loosely coupled and interact less with their birthday peer. The group does not feel the need to always be collocated, perhaps because nobody is wondering off in a stupor, yet. Preparation for the long evening of celebration continues, and per tradition the number of beverages consumed progresses towards the goal of 21. However close friends pursue other sub-goals in order to make sure their friend stays out of any serious danger– a collaborative goal that often supercedes the group's other goal.

If the person is your average college student, at about 10-12 beverages the only memory they have of their progress is a series of tallies a friend has been diligently marking on the drinkers forearm. At this point the task is tightly coupled, as one or more individuals must be in constant contact with their inebriated peer less they wonder off or consume uncounted birthday beverages. In a collaborative effort, group members begin watering down their friend’s beverages and reducing the level of alcohol being consumed per drink, and feeding them. Eventually the birthday person is completely dependent on the group. In cases of excessive intoxication, giving them a water-tonic, or just adding the remaining marks accomplishes the birthday goal. The point of all this being, a distributed cognitive system often keeps the birthday person unharmed throughout the big day.

The admittedly lighthearted story about college debauchery is a good model for a distributed cognitive system because the perceived goal in the activity would not even be possible for most individuals without increasing amounts of coupling. Only through interactions with other cognitive units is the birthday person able to complete (or *believe* they completed) the goal.