Not a claim from my side, really, more a question still. Triggered by two different sources:
There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.
– Mark Twain (1906)
Interestingly enough, I’ve read in 99 Percent Invisible – E507 Search and Ye Might Find that 15% of Google’s search queries are unique and new, each day. Could those be considered new “ideas”?
What even is an idea? Are ideas automatically considered creative? (Surely not, as nothing has truly been created from thought alone.)
- Keywords: creativity
- Source: See above.
- Related: