# Darwin and Einstein May Illuminate Each Other by Lee Smolin > “I don't know which model of quantum gravity is right, but all the leading candidates, string theory, loop quantum gravity and others, teach us that it is possible that all properties of elementary particles are relational and environmental. In different possible universes there may be different combinations of elementary particles and forces. Indeed, all that used to be thought of as fundamental, space and the elementary particles themselves are increasingly seen, in models of quantum gravity, as themselves emergent from a more elementary network of relations.” > **— Lee Smolin**, *2006, Edge Annual Question, “What Is Your Dangerous Idea?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Seeing Darwin in the light of Einstein; seeing Einstein in the light of Darwin](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10833) — Edge published this exact passage in its 2006 Annual Question collection, *WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2006 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2006 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the complete response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|Valley Roots]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|Never Going to Make It!]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] - [[wiki/Posthumanism|Posthumanism]] - [[wiki/Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin]] - [[wiki/Darwinian Evolution|Darwinian Evolution]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “I don't know which model of quantum gravity is right, but all the leading candidates, string theory, loop quantum gravity and others, teach us that it is possible that all properties of elementary particles are relational and environmental. In different possible universes there may be different combinations of elementary particles and forces. Indeed, all that used to be thought of as fundamental, space and the elementary particles themselves are increasingly seen, in models of quantum gravity, as themselves emergent from a more elementary network of relations.” — Lee Smolin, 2006, Edge Annual Question, “What Is Your Dangerous Idea?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-lee-smolin-darwin-einstein-illuminate-each-other ```