Epiphany (feeling)

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This article is about the feeling. For other uses, see Epiphany.

An epiphany (from the ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphanea, "manifestation, striking appearance") is an experience of a sudden and striking realization. Generally the term is used to describe a scientific breakthrough or a religious or philosophical discovery, but it can apply in any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective. Epiphanies are studied by psychologists[1][2] and other scholars, particularly those attempting to study the process of innovation.[3][4][5]

Epiphanies are relatively rare occurrences and generally follow a process of significant thought about a problem. Often they are triggered by a new and key piece of information, but importantly, a depth of prior knowledge is required to allow the leap of understanding.[3][4][6][7] Famous epiphanies include Archimedes's discovery of a method to determine the volume of an irregular object ("Eureka!") and Isaac Newton's realization that a falling apple and the orbiting moon are both pulled by the same force.[6][7][8]

History

The word epiphany originally referred to insight through the divine.[9][10] Today, this concept is more often used without such connotations, but a popular implication remains that the epiphany is supernatural, as the discovery seems to come suddenly from the outside.[9]

The word's secular usage may owe much of its popularity to Irish novelist

Emmanuel Lévinas, epiphany or a manifestation of the divine is seen in another's face (see face-to-face
).

Flammarion engraving. From "L'atmosphère", book of 1888.

In traditional and pre-modern cultures,

Pop Artist Andy Warhol would invert expectations by presenting commonplace objects or graphics as works of fine art (for example a urinal as a fountain
), simply by presenting them in a way no one had thought to do before; the result was intended to induce an epiphany of "what art is" or is not.

Process

Epiphanies can come in many different forms, and are often generated by a complex combination of experience, memory, knowledge, predisposition and context. A contemporary example of an epiphany in education might involve the process by which a student arrives at some form of new insight or clarifying thought.[12] Despite this popular image, epiphany is the result of significant work on the part of the discoverer, and is only the satisfying result of a long process.[13] The surprising and fulfilling feeling of epiphany is so surprising because one cannot predict when one's labor will bear fruit, and our subconscious can play a significant part in delivering the solution; and is fulfilling because it is a reward for a long period of effort.[4][13]

Myth

A common myth predicts that most, if not all, innovations occur through epiphanies.[6] Not all innovations occur through epiphanies; Scott Berkun notes that "the most useful way to think of an epiphany is as an occasional bonus of working on tough problems."[7] Most innovations occur without epiphany, and epiphanies often contribute little towards finding the next one.[7] Crucially, epiphany cannot be predicted, or controlled.[7]

Although epiphanies are only a rare occurrence, crowning a process of significant labor, there is a common myth that epiphanies of sudden comprehension are commonly responsible for leaps in technology and the sciences.

holistic understanding in a prepared mind was said to give Charles Darwin his "hunch" (about natural selection), and Darwin later said he always remembered the spot in the road where his carriage was when the epiphany struck. Another famous epiphany myth is associated with Isaac Newton's apple story,[4] and yet another with Nikola Tesla's discovery of a workable alternating current induction motor. Though such epiphanies might have occurred, they were almost certainly the result of long and intensive periods of study those individuals had undertaken, rather than an out-of-the-blue flash of inspiration about an issue they had not thought about previously.[6][7]

Another myth is that epiphany is simply another word for (usually spiritual) vision. Actually, realism and psychology make epiphany a different mode as distinguished from vision, even though both vision and epiphany are often triggered by (sometimes seemingly) irrelevant incidents or objects.[8][14]

In religion

Further information: Epiphany (holiday), theophany, and hierophany

In Christianity, the Epiphany refers to a realization that Christ is the Son of God. Western churches generally celebrate the

Visit of the Magi as the revelation of the Incarnation of the infant Christ, and commemorate the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. Traditionally, Eastern churches, following the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar, have celebrated Epiphany (or Theophany) in conjunction with Christ's baptism by John the Baptist and celebrated it on January 19; however, other Eastern churches have adopted the Western Calendar and celebrate it on January 6.[15] Some Protestant churches often celebrate Epiphany as a season, extending from the last day of Christmas until either Ash Wednesday
, or the Feast of the Presentation on February 2.

In more general terms, the phrase "religious epiphany" is used when a person realizes their faith, or when they are convinced an event or happening was really caused by a deity or being of their faith. In Hinduism, for example, epiphany might refer to

kensho also describes this moment, referring to the feeling attendant on realizing the answer to a koan
.

See also

References

  1. ^ Arianna Jarvis (1996). "Taking a break: Preliminary investigations into the psychology of epiphanies as discontinuous change experiences". Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. University of Massachusetts-Amherst: 1–296. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  2. S2CID 145519751
    . Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4493-8962-8
    . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4493-8962-8
    . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  5. ISBN 978-0-387-71801-9
    . Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-1-59184-223-1
    . Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4493-8962-8
    . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-90-420-0636-2
    . Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4493-8962-8
    . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  10. ^ Platt, V. J. (2011) Facing the Gods. Epiphany and Representation in Graeco-Roman Art, Literature and Religion. Cambridge University Press.
  11. ^ Morris Beja, Epiphany in the Modern Novel. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1971. P. 18.
  12. S2CID 16905317
    .
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4493-8962-8
    . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  14. ISBN 978-1-4493-8962-8
    . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  15. ^ "The Season of Epiphany". Crivoice.org. 2011-10-11. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
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