# The Society of Mind

The Minsky Arm, developed by Marvin Minsky in the late 1960s through the early 1970s, uses a camera and computer to build with blocks. Working on the arm served as inspiration for his later work on the human mind. (Photo courtesy of gastev on Flickr. CC-BY.)

### Instructor(s)

Prof. Marvin Minsky

### MIT Course Number

6.868J

### As Taught In

Fall 2011

### Level

Graduate

###

Some Description
Instructor(s) | Prof.
As Taught In | Spring 2002
Course Number | 2.24
Level | Undergraduate/Graduate
Features | Lecture Notes, Student Work

## Course Description

## Course Features

- Video lectures
- Assignments: written (no examples)

## Course Description

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

## Other Versions

## Other OCW Versions

Archived versions:

- 6.868J The Society of Mind (Spring 2007)

## Related Content

## Course Collections

See related courses in the following collections:

### Find Courses by Topic

- Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence
- Philosophy

Marvin Minsky. 6.868J The Society of Mind. Fall 2011. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.

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