To disprove a theory, you just need one counterexample. I think a counterexample gives you the epiphany.
If you strongly believe something to be true, and a counterexample is given that shows your belief to be false, your belief change can be quite instant.
On the other hand, you can't prove a theory. You can only give good supporting arguments. If you strongly disbelieve something, and you keep getting more and more evidence that you might be wrong, it will be a gradual process.
I think my choice to become vegan was a gradual change. I originally thought that I just need to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in my diet, which was predominantly processed food and meat. As I researched more and more, I kept finding more evidence that eating meat isn't helpful. Anything that supported an animal-based diet always seemed to be supported by flimsy evidence. "Milk gives you more calcium, which can be used to strengthen your bones and teeth." Yes, but from other things I read, your body absorbs calcium FROM the bones to make up for the acidity that the protein in milk apparently causes. Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
So I can't ever
prove to myself that a vegan diet is healthiest. I just have a lot of evidence to back it up and a lot of evidence against eating animal-based foods.
Perhaps there was a day when I realized that I just couldn't drink milk anymore if I wanted to be healthy, but it didn't feel too dramatic for me. One day, I just stopped.
I think a similar process occurred when I realized that I could be an entrepreneur instead of an employee. I just read more and more material on my capabilities as a person and how under-utilized I am. And then this quote came up twice in a matter of weeks:
Quote:
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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
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Once I found it while reading about motivation or inspiration or awakening the giant within or something like that. The second time was while watching Coach Carter. B-)
Anyway, the point is that sometimes you just gradually get more evidence to persuade you to one side of thinking or another. Sometimes your belief just shatters in the face of undeniable evidence.