# Transformational Creativity in Science: A Graphical Theory

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.18687 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.18687/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 3 of its 32 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 25 Apr 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Can LLMs Generate Novel Research Ideas? A Large-Scale Human Study with 100+ NLP Researchers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.04109/) (2024)
- [Generating Interesting Scientific Ideas using Knowledge Graphs and LLMs: Evaluations with 100 Research Group Leaders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.17044/) (2024)
- [Towards a Formal Creativity Theory: Preliminary results in Novelty and Transformativeness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.02148/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Measuring Combinatorial Creativity in Large Language Models and Humans](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.21043/) (2025)
- [CreativityNeuro: Steering Language Model Weights to Improve Divergent Thinking and Reduce Mode Collapse](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.01433/) (2026)
- [Active Inference AI Systems for Scientific Discovery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.21329/) (2025)
- [Assessing the Creativity of Large Language Models: Testing, Limits, and New Frontiers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.13450/) (2026)
- [AGC-Bench: Measuring Artificial General Creativity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.01152/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Creative processes are typically divided into three types: combinatorial, exploratory, and transformational. Here, we provide a graphical theory of transformational scientific creativity, synthesizing Boden's insight that transformational creativity arises from changes in the "enabling constraints" of a conceptual space and Kuhn's structure of scientific revolutions as resulting from paradigm shifts. We prove that modifications made to axioms of our graphical model have the most transformative potential and then illustrate how several historical instances of transformational creativity can be captured by our framework.