What does it feel like to read a groundbreaking academic paper?

Oddly, it's a secular experience which feels religious in its nature. Ground breaking papers are often dedicated to discoveries rather than creations or solutions. As such they put you in touch with a pre-established structure which was never seen before.

But you can now get this feeling without reading such papers. Video animation of ATP synthase should blow your mind as you see a machine incorporating a 'wheel', but posessing no inventor:

Sphere eversion should do the same thing:

If, after learning about what you are watching, you find you are not filled with awe and wonder, you would be wasting your time reading academic papers waiting for these 'Eureka' moments. Over an academic life, they are indeed few and far between.

- Eric Weinstein on Quora