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Society of Mind - Definition |
| Related Words: Everyman, Public, Academy, Acculturation, Affiliation, Alliance, Ashram, Assemblage, Assembly, Association, Axis, Band, Bash, Belt, Bloc, Body, Bop, Box |
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The Society of Mind is the theory of human intelligence developed by Marvin Minsky.
The Society of Mind theory views the human cognitive system as a vast society of distinct and individually simple processes known as agents. These agents are the fundamental particles from which minds are built, and together produce the many abilities we attribute to minds. The great power in viewing a mind as a society of agents, as opposed to as the consequence of some basic principle or some simple formal system, is that each agent can be based on a different type of process with its own distinct kinds of purposes, languages for describing things, ways of representing knowledge, and methods for producing inferences.
This idea is perhaps best summarized by the following quote from Minsky:
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.
-- Marvin Minsky, The Society of Mind, page 308
A review of the Society of Mind theory is available in the article Examining the Society of Mind (http://www.media.mit.edu/~push/ExaminingSOM.html).
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Example Usage of Society |
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HazelGoddess: You think if Society sent the message that hitting people (no matter the gender) is wrong then there'd be less violence? |
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MahadAli: You know, Id like to hang with Oprah, have her invite me, lunch and talk about different Society's around the world. lol And shop |
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ecgoodman: V. enjoyable Royston Choral Society Christmas concert last night. Brave audience turn-out in icy conditions. Next concert March 20th! |
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