Symbolic Systems - Stanford University

Symbolic Systems from Stanford University is a Campus Master Cognitive degree that prepares you for a Science career. Symbolic Systems attacks age-old questions about the relation between mind and the world, questions like the following. What is information? What is intelligence? How are they related? Is intelligence more than information processing? Does intelligence require a mind? For that matter, what is a mind? How are minds related to brains? Does intelligence require some sort of biologically-based brain? Or is it possible to create artifacts that process information in a way that we can call them intelligent? In the Symbolic Systems Program (SSP), computers allow us to build powerful simulations of various kinds of intelligent action and provide a methodology for the rigorous probing of questions about the nature of mind, meaning, and intelligence. Computers are more than just tools for simulating the mind, they are part of the very subject matter of the field. Why? Because computer systems, robots, and people are all examples of symbolic systems, agents that use meaningful symbols to represent the world around them so as to communicate and generally act in the world. The notions of symbol, meaning, representation, information, and action are at the heart of the study of symbolic systems. This common core of notions arises in a variety of fields including artificial intelligence, computer science , cognitive psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and symbolic logic. Students are required to take courses in the Departments of Computer Science , Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology, as well as courses designed specifically for the program. Its goal is to prepare students with the vocabulary, theoretical background, and technical skills to understand and participate in contemporary interdisciplinary research into questions about language, information, and intelligence—both human and machine. The curriculum offers a combination of traditional humanistic approaches to these questions as well as a training and familiarity with exciting contemporary developments in the science and technology of computation. The M.S. degree in Symbolic Systems is designed to be completed in the equivalent of one academic year by co-terminal students or returning students who already have a B.S. degree in Symbolic Systems, and in two years or less (depending on a student's level of preparation) by other students. Admission is competitive, providing a limited number of students with the opportunity to pursue course and project work, in consultation with a faculty advisor who is affiliated with the Symbolic Systems Program. View more details on Stanford University . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Cognitive courses.