# Synthetic Biological and Digital Life Put Humanity in Genuinely Novel Territory by Eric R. Weinstein > “The problem with all this is that we cannot excel our way out of modern problems. Within the same century, we have unlocked the twin nuclei of both cell and atom and created the conditions for synthetic biological and even digital life with computer programs that can spawn with both descent and variation on which selection can now act. We are in genuinely novel territory which we have little reason to think we can control; only the excellent would compare these recent achievements to harmless variations on the invention of the compass or steam engine. So surviving our newfound god-like powers will require modes that lie well outside expertise, excellence, and mastery.” > **— Eric R. Weinstein**, *2013, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Excellence](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/23879) — Edge published this exact, continuous passage in its 2013 Annual Question collection, *WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2013 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2013 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/MARS|MARS]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|Never Going to Make It!]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration]] - **Article:** [[articles/Christopher Nolan's Odyssey at the Threshold of Machine Succession|Nolan's Odyssey]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Species-Level Maturation|Species-Level Maturation]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Species-Level Maturation|Species-Level Maturation]] - [[wiki/Artificial Life|Artificial Life]] - [[wiki/Digital Evolution|Digital Evolution]] - [[wiki/Synthetic Biology|Synthetic Biology]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “The problem with all this is that we cannot excel our way out of modern problems. Within the same century, we have unlocked the twin nuclei of both cell and atom and created the conditions for synthetic biological and even digital life with computer programs that can spawn with both descent and variation on which selection can now act. We are in genuinely novel territory which we have little reason to think we can control; only the excellent would compare these recent achievements to harmless variations on the invention of the compass or steam engine. So surviving our newfound god-like powers will require modes that lie well outside expertise, excellence, and mastery.” — Eric R. Weinstein, 2013, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-eric-weinstein-synthetic-biological-digital-life-put-humanity ```