Creativity Patterns in the Production of Scientific Theories and Literary Fiction

Abstract

T he process of knowledge formation and transmittal can be studied historically, at the level of societies and their cultures, or at the level of the individual and over the course of an individual’s life. Take scientific knowledge, for example. The production of scientific knowledge by an individual is often associated with the concept of “creativity.” According to social scientists, scientific knowledge production can qualify as creative if such knowledge is novel, is useful (e.g., it leads to theoretical advances in a discipline, or new technological applications), and has high impact. The concept of creativity, however, does not apply only to scientific inquiry, but also to human activities in many other domains such as, for the example, the arts. Whether similar or different types of creativity are involved in science and in the arts is a question that has generated a great deal of research. Two important aspects of creativity have been identified by research in psychology and cognitive science. First, creativity is usually the product of a gradual and complex process, rather than of a sudden leap of imagination. Second, there is a relationship between previous