This is intended as a very abstract philosophical question.
Like Einstein with relativity was inspired by a man falling from a roof and a moving train. Most creative ideas seem to boil down to a person moving ideas across domains. Do you think this is always true even if the person is unwilling to admit the root thoughts, or perhaps they are completely unaware of the connections they subconsciously made? Is there truly a provably unique thought or is everything a product of experience?
I think the problem is (ironically) exacerbated by lacking better language to describe things. Einstein was trying to describe the world, not come up with something new. I think that does involve “creativity,” but I’d argue that it’s not the same impulse.
Children absolutely come up with things that don’t seem to have any relation to what they’ve experienced, but it’s not useful creativity, like what Einstein possessed.
This comment somehow feels insulting to both Einstein and children, but I don’t mean it like that.