Can There Be Another Einstein?

Haubrock, Phillip J.

doi:10.1080/10400419.2025.2608301

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Can There Be Another Einstein?

2025-12-01

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Haubrock, Phillip J. *

Ge, Jianhua

DOI：10.1080/10400419.2025.2608301

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Abstract

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History's great scientific revolutions emerged under adverse socio-economic conditions and intellectual risk-taking. Today, relative increased socio-economic global stability, academic conservatism and politization, and digital distraction erode the psychological and institutional contexts once nurturing transformative insight - regardless of intellectual capacity. Despite incremental advances, humanity faces growing ecological crises that demand bold, integrative thinking. This viewpoint explores how shifting sociocultural and institutional landscapes, together with internal scientific developments, can shape our capacity for revolutionary ideas in an increasingly diverse and dynamic global scientific workforce. Additionally, it addresses the fundamental question of why fostering curiosity, resilience, and tolerance for uncertainty is vital to realign knowledge production to increase the likelihood of paradigm-shifting discoveries. We do not contend that individual intelligence is lacking; indeed, recent declines in achievement scores and evidence of a reverse Flynn effect point to a far more complex and uneven cognitive landscape. Instead, our claim is that the sociocultural and institutional environments that once nurtured scientific breakthroughs have become increasingly misaligned with current conditions. By rethinking how research systems value risk and creativity, we may create conditions for the next paradigm-shifting vision - one capable of reshaping not just science, but our collective response to the planetary crises ahead.

Keywords:

SCIENCE

PERFORMANCE

CREATIVITY

GENIUS

EQUITY

BIG