I was having a discussion with a colleague about how all knowledge that is "new" is necessarily derived from previous knowledge and a chance interaction with ei

I was having a discussion with a colleague about how all knowledge that is "new" is necessarily derived from previous knowledge and a chance interaction with either unexpected consequences or unexpected ideas. I don't think our brains aren't magical devices that can "new up" concepts into existence that hadn't existed in some manner in which we could iterate on. Of course, there's no way to prove this at the moment. Would Einstein have invented relativity if instead he had become an art student and worked at a Bakery?