This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

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The Society of Mind

Photograph of neurons in a column.

Neurons in a column. This course focuses on understanding how the mind works and how to replicate human thinking in a machine. (Image courtesy of Ethan Hein on Flickr.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

6.868J / MAS.731J

As Taught In

Spring 2007

Level

Graduate

Course Features

Course Highlights

Marvin Minsky has made significant contributions to the field of Artificial Intelligence, and this course, along with his book of the same title, illuminates new ideas on thinking and how the mind works.

Course Description

This course is an introduction to a theory that tries to explain how minds are made from collections of simpler processes. The subject treats such aspects of thinking as vision, language, learning, reasoning, memory, consciousness, ideals, emotions, and personality. Ideas incorporate psychology, artificial intelligence, and computer science to resolve theoretical issues such as whole vs. parts, structural vs. functional descriptions, declarative vs. procedural representations, symbolic vs. connectionist models, and logical vs. common-sense theories of learning.

Minsky, Marvin. 6.868J The Society of Mind, Spring 2007. (MIT OpenCourseWare: Massachusetts Institute of Technology), https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-868j-the-society-of-mind-spring-2007 (Accessed). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA


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