Distributed Cognition and its Boundaries in the Context of Public Science Communication

The article discusses the concept of distributed cognition and actualizes the issue of the limits of its application. The issue relates to the situations of the production of scientific knowledge and expertise, which becomes the basis for political decision-making. The purpose of the article is to show that the extension of distributed scientific cognition to the field of public science communication, where the interaction of experts and non-experts is realized, is not only possible, but also necessary. As parts of this purpose, the following steps are taken. First, I briefly describe the concept of public science communication characterizing not only the dissemination of knowledge outside the scientific community, but also the participation of the public in its production. Secondly, at the conceptual level I argue that the scientific character of knowledge can be saved in the communication of scientists with the public, since the concept of objectivity as a basic scientific value includes the requirement to extend the context of the knowledge relevance and the number of participants of its production. Thirdly, I demonstrate that the extension of distributed cognition to the field of communication of scientists with the public is necessary in situations of uncertainty and distribution of techno-scientifically produced risks. The situations require cognitive abilities and cognitive tasks additional to those provided by science. This allows to talk about the extension of distributed scientific cognition to the field of public science communication. This study may be relevant for scientists entering public science communication and forming a relationship to it, as well as in general, for the practices of social and political interactions in which socially important decisions are made.