In his 2010 book, “Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural Story of Innovation”, author Steven Johnson debunks the myth of the “eureka moment”, too often given credit for revolutionary thinking, he says. According to Johnson’s research, good ideas more typically develop over time in what he calls a “slow hunch”, where a thought percolates away for years and years to emerge when ready, often after some new interaction or stimulation. Johnson thus postulates that the most consistant source of good ideas is in fact collaboration. Environments that encourage people to share ideas and have their different thoughts collide and interact are the places where the most substantial intellectual progress is typically made. In the video below Johnson discusses this concept and how the growth of coffee houses during the enlightenment increased the number of interactions, triggering a myriad of new ideas impacting culture, politics, science, and art. http://peterjory.blogspot.ca/2012/10/where-good-ideas-come-from.html