This symposium is inspired by the old dream of understanding the mind and the brain, which was at the core of several new fields created at MIT during the ‘50s and ‘60s. The same dream is now the main motivation for a new Intelligence Initiative (I2). Beyond being a great intellectual mission, this research will help develop an understanding of the origins of intelligence, build more intelligent artifacts and systems, and improve the mechanisms for collective decisions. These advances will be critical to the future prosperity, education, health, and security of our society.