“What is yours will find you.” - Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib

“An epiphany is a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of something that is very important to you ¹.”

Epiphanies are not planned. They are not reinforced. They come from an unknown place at a non-predetermined time. They shock and awe. They are powerful moments of self-discovery, which have long-lasting effects. These are beautiful atypical moments that nurture and encourage.

Self-discovery has often been identified as the “aha” moment. This is a moment when the obvious gives way to the oblivious. The epiphany materializes from the ether. It rises from the ashes of premeditated thoughts and conclusions to share a new and previously unrelated internal awareness.

A primary goal of personal growth is to move away from a status quo that is not working. A status quo metaphor would be the proverbial water taking the same pathway running down the hill.

These pathways can become entrenched and meaningless over time. Epiphanies have the potential to discover new and unchartered areas within ourselves. They are automatic and unfiltered, which increases their value.

“Recently, the tools of cognitive neuroscience have been applied to this phenomenon. A series of studies have used electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural correlates of the “Aha! moment” and its antecedents. Although the experience of insight is sudden and can seem disconnected from the immediately preceding thought, these studies show that insight is the culmination of a series of brain states and processes operating at different time scales. Elucidation of these precursors suggests interventional opportunities for the facilitation of insight ⁵.”

Motivated Reasoning

Judith Curry wrote in the Sociology of Science December 28, 2017 issue: “motivated reasoning involves someone reasoning that they can re-interpret reality in a way that fits what they desire, their ideology, etc.².”

Motivated reasoning reinforces one’s safety zone or status quo, which can become immune to change. Individuals can maintain their dysfunctional behaviour vis-à-vis their motivated reasoning. This pattern of behaviour then reinforces part of a fictitious reality that supports distortion and illusion. The end result is a sophisticated inner dialogue of self-deception, which is perpetually reinforced when new information, contrary to the established inner dialogue, arises.

Epiphanies

Unlike motivated reasoning, which follows a reinforcement schedule, an epiphany appears to be more accidental, unexpected, unforeseen, a chance experience. Epiphanies are rare but powerful events. An epiphany has the influence to magnify importance by its foreign nature of being out of the norm. As one person said: “Wow! Where did that come from?”

How can we create an environment whereby more epiphanies will occur? Are there procedures that lead to increasing the potential of experiencing more epiphanies?

Consider cognitive dissonance (CD), which is defined as the psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously ³. This discomfort includes any new information that is contradictory to one’s current conscious beliefs. Cognitive dissonance is the very concept that kicks in when motivated reasoning is summoned. Discomforts are managed through personal manipulation in an attempt to maintain one’s personal view of the status quo and their resistance to change.

"What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself." - Abraham Maslow

The Inner Dialogue

The antithesis of motivated reasoning involves avoiding any attempts to re-interpret reality. Only through self-monitoring one’s inner dialogue of the status quo can one avoid the trap of circumventing new information or ideas that challenge one’s motivated reasoning.

Through self-discovery, being less self-protective, and trusting alternative views of reality, self-awareness will be enhanced. Potentially, a realization arises that these strategies facilitate personal insight and growth.

Through this process, one is challenged to become less guarded, biased, self-protective, defensive, manipulative, and re-interpretive. Via adherence to culling preconceived ideas one can become more receptive to the unforeseen unexpected surfacing of the epiphany.

“Aha” Moments

D. Rock and J. Davis in their Harvard Business Review article “4 Steps to Having More Aha Moments” state: “In short, anything that helps you be able to notice quiet signals in the brain, or weak activations as they are called, can increase the chances of insight. By practicing leaving space for quiet, being internally focused, taking a positive approach, and not actively trying to have insight, we can all have more insights every day. More insights equates to solving complex problems faster, and that’s something we could all benefit from, whether we want to tweak a marketing campaign, solve a client challenge, or change the world ⁴.”

Are we encouraging “weak activations”? Is there a greater potential for epiphanies and growth when one is less self-protected by motivated reasoning and predetermined ideas?

Can we create an environment where epiphanies are more likely to take place? Epiphany appears to rely on the availability of “space for quiet” and an absence of predetermined mindset within the receiver.

Unchartered and unfiltered areas of experience are waiting to be unveiled. Our ‘aha moments’ are buds of beauty and brilliance.

References

^{1-Cambridge English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, 4th edition. Cambridge University Press, 2018.}

^{2-Curry, Judith. JC’s (un)motivated reasoning. Sociology of Science, December 28, 2017.}

^{3-Merriam-Webster Dictionary. February 10, 2019.}

^{4-Harvard Business Review. 4 Steps to Having More “Aha” Moments, October 12, 2016}

^{5-Kounios, J. & Beeman, M. (2009). The Aha! Moment: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(4): 210-216.}