On the Plural of Modesty and Concealing Identity

Scientist-Sociologist Ludwig Fleck describes the formation of ideas, as they bubble from the collective:

"Although the uniqueness and novelty of the working material tend to associate it inseparably with the author ... the researcher almost always wants to hide his identity. This is recognizable, for instance, in the characteristic "we" instead of "I," the specific plural of modesty." (p119)

And further, on Authorship:

"The true creator of a new idea is not the individual but the thought collective." (p121)

Image source: Burning Man in Black Rock City Nevada
Image source: Murmurating starlings

Notes:
Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact.
Ludwig Fleck, 1935 (Switzerland).
Edited by Thaddeus J. Trenn and Robert K. Merton
Translated by Fred Bradley and Thaddeus J. Trenn
Foreword by Thomas S. Kuhn
Published by University of Chicago, 1979