View source for SocietyOfMind


[[|http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/ Marvin Minsky]], one of the fathers of Artificial Intelligence by many, developed a model of intelligence, as a network of agents and agencies which collectively manifest intelligence.  This compelling model has significant ramifications in the conceptualizing of a [[CollectiveIntelligence]].

"What magical trick makes us intelligent?  The trick is that there is no trick. The power of intelligence stems from our vast diversity, not from any single, perfect principle. Our species has evolved many effective although imperfect methods, and each of us individually develops more on our own. Eventually, very few of our actions and decisions come to depend on any single mechanism. Instead, they emerge from conflicts and negotiations among societies of processes that constantly challenge one another."

-- Marvin Minsky, from The Society of Mind

See [[MachineAgent]], [[HumanAgents]]


* http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0671657135/marvinminskyA/  - the book
* http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/context/9533/0 - cross references
* http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/6868/ - the class
* http://www.emcp.com/intro_pc/reading12.htm
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I got the book the day it became available and have cherished it ever since.  My rat eared copy with my notes scribbled all over it is a treasure to me.  Although I fiercely disagree with some aspects of it, overall it confirmed what I feel are basic truths of [[HumanNature]] which science is still discovering. -- [[JimScarver]]