an irrational element

My view of the matter, for what it is worth, is that there is no such thing as a logical method of having new ideas, or a logical reconstruction of this process. My view may be expressed by saying that every discovery contains an ‘irrational element,’ or 'a creative intuition,’ in Bergson’s sense. In a similar way Einstein speaks of the 'search for those highly universal laws … from which a picture of the world can be obtained by pure deduction. There is no logical path.’ he says, 'leading to these … laws. They can only be reached by intuition, based upon something like an intellectual love (Einfühlung) of the objects of experience.’

Karl Popper