# John Brockman **Born:** February 16, 1941 **Domain:** Intellectual Networks / Publishing / Science Culture **Doc Type:** Person Node **John Brockman** is an author, literary agent, and cultural organizer who founded the Edge Foundation and published [[Edge.org]]. He articulated the modern [[Third Culture]] as a field in which scientists and empirical thinkers address broad cultural questions directly. ## STEVE Context [[articles/STEVE|STEVE]] identifies Edge as a working membrane where eminent scientists appeared as colleagues in conversation. Brockman’s presentation of [[Stephen Jay Gould]] simply as “Steve” exemplifies the essay’s idea of reduced ceremonial distance without reduced intellectual magnitude. ## Routes [[articles/STEVE|STEVE]] · [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism]] · [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] · [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] ## Official Sources - [John Brockman digital archive](https://www.edge.org/jb/online.digital.archive.html) - [The Third Culture introduction](https://www.edge.org/conversation/john_brockman-introduction) ## Relationships - **Edge source route:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] connects this topic to exact Annual Question passages promoted into the Simple Reminders archive. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “The ideas presented on Edge are speculative; they represent the frontiers of knowledge in the areas of evolutionary biology, genetics, computer science, neurophysiology, psychology, and physics. Some of the fundamental questions posed are: Where did the universe come from? Where did life come from? Where did the mind come from? Emerging out of the third culture is a new natural philosophy, founded on the realization of the import of complexity, of evolution. Very complex systems,, whether organisms, brains, the biosphere, or the universe itself, were not constructed by design; all have evolved.” > **— John Brockman**, *2014, Edge Annual Question, “What Scientific Idea Is Ready For Retirement?”* [[reminders/Evolution/Edge Explores the Frontiers of Biology Mind and Physics by John Brockman|Edge Explores the Frontiers of Biology Mind and Physics by John Brockman]]