Part of my view is based on cynicism—but a lot of it is based on the history of science.
The important paradigm shifts do not come out of established science.
They are usually generated by anti-social kooks who talk to themselves or talk to angels or believe that aliens gave them their great insight.
The problem is that there may be ten thousand kooks that produce nothing worth-while for every one that makes a scientific breakthrough—and it is impossible for the “experts” of their time to figure out which is which.
Isaac Newton is one good example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton%27s_occult_studies
Dismissing all kooks is easy but intellectually lazy.
Newton was a professor at Cambridge. That was as establishment as it gets.
Your idea is romantic but not really accurate.
Mendel is an example of an outsider making a breakthrough.