How does the mind work? Marvin Minsky has the answer, written down in his non-fiction work Society Of Mind.

Publisher's Abstract

Marvin Minsky -- one of the fathers of computer science and cofounder of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT -- gives a revolutionary answer to the age-old question: 'How does the mind work?' Minsky brilliantly portrays the mind as a "society" of tiny components that are themselves mindless. Mirroring his theory, Minsky boldly casts The Society of Mind as an intellectual puzzle whose pieces are assembled along the way. Each chapter -- on a self-contained page -- corresponds to a piece in the puzzle. As the pages turn, a unified theory of the mind emerges, like a mosaic. Ingenious, amusing, and easy to read, The Society of Mind is an adventure in imagination.

Why You Should Read This

This This is in our opinion one of the best non-fiction books ever written. By reading it, you realize how our incredibly complex world is organized. This, of course, includes ourselves and the most complex part of us: our mind. How can the mind coordinate all the nerves, muscles and tendons to grab a glass of water, while we are not even aware of all this complexity within us?

Minsky's model of how the mind works consists of countless tiny agents that for themselves do very litte. The power comes from higher level agencies that trigger and coordinate agents and other lower level agencies. This is of course a familiar concept of computer science, but also of bureaucracies and in fact any hierarchical organization.

The beauty of the book not only lies in the seminal and brilliant theory that paved much of the way for the field of Artificial Intelligence, but in the way the book is written: Each chapter is one page long and lucidly descibes a single concept, mostly understandable by itself. In doing so, he does not shy away from discussing notions like Individuality, Soul, or his view on Culture and Religion.

Along the way, you learn a lot about yourself and your interaction with the world. And, best of all, it is easy to read and very entertaining.

• Publication Date: March 1988
• Authors: Prof. Marvin Minsky (1927 - 2016)
• Details: Simon & Schuster