# Society Innovates Through Unconscious Idea Sharing by Allan Snyder > “Everyone steals ideas from everyone else, but they do so unconsciously. This has evolved for our very survival. It maximizes the innovative power of society.” > **— Allan Snyder**, *2004 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Original Edge response:** [Snyder's Law — Allan Snyder](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10133) — a verbatim passage from Allan Snyder's 2004 Annual Question response, expressing the author's position at the time. The linked response supplies its surrounding context. - **Local archival entry:** [[research/Edge 2004 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2004 Full Quotation Curation]] (EDGE2004-134). ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Synthetic Cambrian Explosion as a Technological Speciation Event|The Synthetic Cambrian Explosion as a Technological Speciation Event]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Cultural Evolution|Cultural Evolution]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Everyone steals ideas from everyone else, but they do so unconsciously. This has evolved for our very survival. It maximizes the innovative power of society.” — Allan Snyder, 2004 Edge Annual Question https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-allan-snyder-society-innovates-through-unconscious-idea ```