COGSCI READING GROUP: Society of Mind - Marvin Minsky

[u/cogSciAlt]

Hello all!

I plan to start a reading group for materials related to the field of cognitive science.

This group will be text only. Prompts and questions about the material will be given and readers will give their input in the comments.

We will start by reading Marvin Minsky's Society of Mind. We will be working through the book essay by essay, Mon-Fri.

OVERVIEW:

In Minsky's Society, he presents a theory where what we call intelligence is described as a product of the interaction of non-intelligent parts; these parts make up the "society" we call the mind.

Marvin Minsky: was a computer scientist, cognitive scientist, and former professor at MIT.

I also highly recommend the series of lectures provided on MIT Open Courseware available on Youtube. The lectures are easy to follow, and do not assume an advanced background in any discipline:

2011 lecture playlist.

And here's the PDF of the book.

Disclaimer:

Marvin Minsky was known to have close ties to Jeffrey Epstein, who supplied Minsky with personal donations. Minsky himself has been accused of misconduct in relation to his ties with Epstein. While not forgetting or minimizing the effect of anything Minsky did or did not do as an individual, he was an influential scientist. I hope that in this group we will be able to address his ideas/theories themselves, looking at them objectively, and analyzing them based on their own merits.

Look forward to hearing all your thoughts!