It takes two to think

At the heart of science is a creative ‘night science’ process, in which we haphazardly cobble together the ideas that will become its future building blocks^1,2. Despite the variety of creative approaches practiced by different scientists, one tried-and-true — though often overlooked — trick for generating new ideas stands out. It may sound trivial, yet it is as reliable as it is simple: talk to someone. By talking with other people, we not only pool the information or ideas that each of us individually lacks, but we are also able to improvise new thoughts that are not accessible to us alone.

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Authors and Affiliations

Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, USA

Itai Yanai
Institute for Computer Science, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

Martin J. Lercher
Department of Biology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

Martin J. Lercher

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Correspondence to
Itai Yanai.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Yanai, I., Lercher, M.J. It takes two to think.
Nat Biotechnol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-02074-2

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Published: 08 January 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-02074-2