The More Original A Discovery The

From The Act of Creation (1964), Koestler's 700-page study of creativity in humour, science, and art. Koestler argues that genuine creative breakthroughs work by connecting previously unrelated frameworks of thought — what he called "bisociation." The paradox he identifies is that because the building blocks of a discovery were always available, the synthesis seems self-evident in hindsight, even though it took an exceptional mind to make the connection. This insight became central to later thinking about innovation and the sociology of scientific discovery.