The first part of this article makes the case that human cognition is an intergenerational project enabled by the inheritance and bequeathal of cognitive technology (Sects. 2–4). The final two sections of the article (Sects. 5 and 6) explore the normative significance of this claim. My case for the intergenerational claim draws results from multiple disciplines: philosophy (Sect. 2), cultural evolutionary approaches in cognitive science (Sect. 3), and developmental psychology and neuroscience (Sect. 4). In Sect. 5, I propose that cognitive technology should be given to future generations in accordance with principles of pluralism and transparency. In the final main section of the article, Sect. 6, I apply these principles to topics such as the preservation of information, environmental offloading of cognition, and thinking itself.

本文的第一部分论证了人类认知是一个由认知技术的继承和遗赠所促成的代际工程（第 2-4 节）。文章的最后两节（第 5 节和第 6 节）探讨了这一主张的规范意义。我的代际主张案例来自多个学科的结果：哲学（第 2 节）、认知科学中的文化进化方法（第 3 节）以及发展心理学和神经科学（第 4 节）。昆虫。5、我建议按照多元和透明的原则，将认知技术给予后代。在文章的最后一个主要部分，Sect。6、我将这些原则应用于诸如信息保存、认知环境卸载和思考本身等主题。