Abstract
Janusian process in scientific creativity — the same simultaneous-opposition move Rothenberg named in art and literature also operates when researchers hold contradictory models in one frame during discovery (Rothenberg, 1983).
Rothenberg, A. (1983). Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 19(1), 100–119. DOI
Key findings
- Science extension — Janusian process is not limited to artistic domains — scientific breakthroughs can require holding wave and particle (or equivalent) opposites simultaneously (Rothenberg, 1983).
- Complementarity parallel — Rothenberg links the move to Bohr-style complementarity as a cognitive pattern in scientific reasoning — distinct from sequential dialectical resolution.
Application
Open after Rothenberg 1971 when the room needs the scientific version of simultaneous opposition — not a new compromise, the same both/and frame in discovery work.