Minsky's Emotion Machine

Marvin Minsky has just released his first book in 20 years. Titled "The Emotion Machine," its thesis appears to extend and nuance the vision Minsky popularized in The Society of Mind -- the idea that mind is the net result of dynamic interactions within a messily-hierarchical population of more or less-specialized agents, which jockey for position and evolve as a result of their commerce. In the new book, or so the reports of early readers suggest, Minsky shows how emotions work in this context, how they compute and can be computed, and are, at base, just "another tool for thinking with."

The International Herald Tribune today reprinted a brief interview with Minsky about the book (originally appearing in the Boston Globe) which is worth a read.

Posted by John Jainschigg at 01:00 PM  Permalink

This is a public forum. CMP Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. CMP Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of CMP Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in CMP Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.