The Society of Mind is both the title of a 1986 book and the name of a theory of natural intelligence as written and developed by Marvin Minsky.

[2] The work, which first appeared in 1986, was the first comprehensive description of Minsky's "society of mind" theory, which he began developing in the early 1970s.

In the process of explaining the society of mind, Minsky introduces a wide range of ideas and concepts.

The book was not written to prove anything specific about AI or cognitive science, and does not reference physical brain structures.

Minsky said that the biggest source of ideas about the theory came from his work in trying to create a machine that uses a robotic arm, a video camera, and a computer to build with children's blocks.