Being Wrong About Personal Transformation

What is it about?

People often talk about certain experiences as “life-changing.” A psychedelic trip, a serious illness, the birth of a child, or a religious conversion can all seem to leave people feeling like entirely different persons. Philosophers call these transformative experiences, and they come in two main types. Some are epistemic transformations: moments that give us a kind of experience we could not have imagined before—like tasting durian fruit for the first time or seeing color after a lifetime in black and white. Others are personal transformations: shifts that alter our deepest values, such as suddenly coming to see humility or family as more important than wealth or fame. The central question of this article is how we actually know when such personal transformation has occurred. Unlike epistemic transformations, which are transparent and obvious when they happen, personal transformations are more ambiguous. We can be mistaken about them. People may think they have changed profoundly, only to discover later that their old habits and values remain intact. To capture this phenomenon, the paper introduces the idea of “transformative dazzle”: when the intensity of a new and unfamiliar experience dazzles us into believing that we have been remade at a personal level, even though the change does not hold. Mike Tyson’s claim that a psychedelic made him humble and reborn, followed by later public behavior that contradicts this self-image, is one example. The same applies in everyday cases, like someone who swears they will never cheat again after a guilty affair but soon repeats the same mistakes. This matters because our judgments about ourselves and others often rely on taking such claims of transformation at face value. We may trust too quickly, or we may reasonably doubt. It also matters in science and medicine. In research on treatments like psychedelic therapy, participants are often asked whether the experience changed them. If people are prone to transformative dazzle, then their self-reports may be less reliable than researchers assume. Recognizing this problem, and developing better ways to check whether personal change has really occurred—such as by looking at consistent behavior and values over time—can help both in everyday life and in scientific practice. In short, the article argues that while transformative experiences are real and powerful, we are not always the best judges of whether they have truly changed us. Sometimes we are dazzled by novelty and intensity, mistaking short-term impressions for lasting transformation.

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Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Why is it important?

First, on a personal level, many of us like to think that certain dramatic experiences have changed us forever. But if we sometimes get dazzled—mistaking intensity for lasting transformation—then we need to be cautious about trusting our first impressions. This matters for self-knowledge: knowing whether we’ve truly changed our values or just felt like we had in the heat of the moment can shape our choices, relationships, and sense of identity. Second, it matters socially. We often have to decide whether to believe others when they claim to have changed—think of a partner who says they will never repeat past mistakes, or a public figure who declares they’ve turned over a new leaf. Understanding the possibility of “transformative dazzle” helps explain why our skepticism is sometimes justified. Finally, it’s important scientifically. In psychiatry, psychology, and medical research, transformative experiences—like those induced by psychedelics—are being studied as powerful tools for healing. Researchers often rely on participants’ self-reports to measure whether these treatments bring real personal change. If people can be dazzled into thinking they’ve transformed when they haven’t, then scientists need better methods to distinguish genuine shifts in values from temporary or illusory ones. So, the broader significance is this: the article helps us see why we should be careful about taking “I’ve changed” at face value, whether in ourselves, in others, or in research. It pushes us to think more critically about what real, lasting transformation looks like.

Perspectives