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 More Quotes by Marvin Minsky More Quotes From Marvin Minsky If you understand something in only one way, then you don't really understand it at all. The secret of what anything means to us depends on how we've connected it to all other things we know. Well-connected representations let you turn ideas around in your mind, to envision things from many perspectives until you find one that works for you. And that's what we mean by thinking! Marvin Minsky motivational mean thinking You don't understand anything until you learn it more than one way. Marvin Minsky learning education knowledge Artificial intelligence is the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by men. Marvin Minsky machines done men No computer has ever been designed that is ever aware of what it's doing; but most of the time, we aren't either. Marvin Minsky computer technology What is intelligence, anyway It is only a word that people use to name those unknown processes with which our brains solve problems we call hard. But whenever you learn a skill yourself, you're less impressed or mystified when other people do the same. This is why the meaning of 'intelligence' seems so elusive: It describes not some definite thing but only the momentary horizon of our ignorance about how minds might work. Marvin Minsky skills ignorance names Within 10 years computers won't even keep us as pets. Marvin Minsky computer pet years Daniel Dennett is our best current philosopher. He is the next Bertrand Russell. Unlike traditional philosophers, Dan is a student of neuroscience, linguistics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and psychology. He's redefining and reforming the role of the philosopher. Marvin Minsky psychology next roles You don't understand anything unless you understand there are at least 3 ways. Marvin Minsky innovation creativity way But the big feature of human-level intelligence is not what it does when it is works but what it does when it's stuck. Marvin Minsky levels bigs doe I bet the human brain is a kludge Marvin Minsky human-brain humorous brain Societies need rules that make no sense for individuals. For example, it makes no difference whether a single car drives on the left or on the right. But it makes all the difference when there are many cars! Marvin Minsky car differences example Anyone could learn Lisp in one day, except that if they already knew Fortran, it would take three days. Marvin Minsky one-day three ifs We'll show you that you can build a mind from many little parts, each mindless by itself. Marvin Minsky mindless mind littles Theorems often tell us complex truths about the simple things, but only rarely tell us simple truths about the complex ones. To believe otherwise is wishful thinking or "mathematics envy." Marvin Minsky simple believe thinking The secret of what anything means to us depends on how we've connected it to all the other things we know. That's why it's almost always wrong to seek the "real meaning" of anything. A thing with just one meaning has scarcely any meaning at all. Marvin Minsky real secret mean What would a Martian visitor think to see a human being laugh? It must look truly horrible: the sight of furious gestures, flailing limbs, and thorax heaving in frenzied contortions. Marvin Minsky sight laughing thinking A computer is like a violin. You can imagine a novice trying first a phonograph and then a violin. The latter, he says, sounds terrible. That is the argument we have heard from our humanists and most of our computer scientists. Computer programs are good, they say, for particular purposes, but they aren’t flexible. Neither is a violin, or a typewriter, until you learn how to use it. Marvin Minsky typewriters sound trying It makes no sense to seek a single best way to represent knowledge-because each particular form of expression also brings its particular limitations. For example, logic-based systems are very precise, but they make it hard to do reasoning with analogies. Similarly, statistical systems are useful for making predictions, but do not serve well to represent the reasons why those predictions are sometimes correct. Marvin Minsky example expression knowledge We must see that music theory is not only about music, but about how people process it. To understand any art, we must look below its surface into the psychological details of its creation and absorption. Marvin Minsky music people art There was a failure to recognize the deep problems in AI; for instance, those captured in Blocks World. The people building physical robots learned nothing. Marvin Minsky robots block people
