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As usual, no politics ("Democrat" "Republican") or politicians ("Obama" "Bush" "Clinton" "Palin", etc.), editorials, opeds, opinion pieces, flippancy. No ad hominem comments. No self-promotion: referencing your books, papers, courses, "selling from the stage", pushing your well-known agenda. No footnotes or hyperlink: stay on the page. No anecdotes about spouses, significant others, kids, family pets. Write a stand-alone piece: don't respond to the pieces of other contributors already posted.

Go deeper than the news. Tell me something I don't know. This is not a purely scientific question: this is question about our culture and ourselves. The ideas we present on Edge can offer readers and the wider public a new set of metaphors to describe ourselves, our minds, the way we think, the world, and all of the things we know in it.

Be imaginative, exciting, compelling, inspiring. Tell a great story. Make an argument that makes a difference. Amaze and delight. Surprise us!

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I look forward to hearing from you. Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

John Brockman
Editor & Publisher

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The EDGE Question in the News:

"Deliciously creative...the variety astonishes...intellectual skyrockets of stunning brilliance. Nobody in the world is doing what Edge is doing." ARTS & LETTERS • "Fantastically stimulating...It's like the crack cocaine of the thinking world.... Once you start, you can't stop thinking about that question." BBC RADIO 4 • "Big, deep and ambitious questions... breathtaking in scope." NEW SCIENTIST • "A stellar cast of intellectuals ... a stunning array of responses." NEW SCIENTIST • Brilliant ... captivating ... overwhelming." "SEED • "Bold, often thrilling, sometimes chilling, answers." NEWS-OBSERVER • "The fascinating breadth of their visions of the future is revealed today by the discussion website edge.com, which has asked some of the world's finest mind the question: 'What will change everything?'" THE TIMES • "Edge: brilliant, essential and addictive. The result of this ambitious venture, for those who have already experienced navigating the web pages of edge.org, is not only brilliant, but addictive. It interprets, it interrogates, it provokes. Each text can be a world in itself." PUBLICO (LISBON) --COVER STORY, SUNDAY MAGAZINE • "The world's finest minds have responded with some of the most insightful, humbling, fascinating confessions and anecdotes, an intellectual treasure trove. ... Best three or four hours of intense, enlightening reading you can do for the new year. Read it now." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE • "The splendidly enlightened Edge website (www.edge.org) has rounded off each year of inter-disciplinary debate by asking its heavy-hitting contributors to answer one question. I strongly recommend a visit." THE INDEPENDENT • "A great event in the Anglo-Saxon culture." EL MUNDO • "As fascinating and weighty as one would imagine." THE INDEPENDENT • "They are the intellectual elite, the brains the rest of us rely on to make sense of the universe and answer the big questions. But in a refreshing show of new year humility, the world's best thinkers have admitted that from time to time even they are forced to change their minds." THE GUARDIAN • "Praised by everyone from the Guardian, Prospect magazine, Wired, the New York Times and BBC Radio 4, Edge is an online collective of deep thinkers. Their contributors aren't on the frontier, they are the frontier." THE SCOTSMAN • "A selection of the most explosive ideas of our age." SUNDAY HERALD • "Uplifting ...enthralling." MAIL ON SUNDAY • "If you think the web is full of trivial rubbish, you will find the intellectual badinage of edge.org to be a blessed counterpoint." THE TIMES • "...fascinating and provocative reading." -- THE GUARDIAN • "...reads like an intriguing dinner party conversation among great minds in science." -- DISCOVER • "Fantastically stimulating...It's like the crack cocaine of the thinking world.... Once you start, you can't stop thinking about that question." BBC RADIO 4 • "Danger -- brilliant minds at work... exhilarating, hilarious, and chilling." EVENING STANDARD • "Wonderful reading." THE TIMES • "Strangely addictive." THE TELEGRAPH • "The greatest virtual research university in the world." ARTS & LETTERS DAILY • "Audacious and stimulating." LA VANGUARDIA • "Brilliant! Stimulating reading for anyone seeking a glimpse into the next decade." THE SUNDAY TIMES • "A running fire of a provocative and fascinating thesis." LA STAMPA

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