Becoming a Vampire: A Philosophical Experiment

A Conversation with Professor L.A. Paul from Yale University about a philosophical experience in decision theory.

The video explores philosopher L. A. Paul’s ideas about transformative experiences—life decisions that fundamentally change who we are and what we value.

Paul begins with her famous “Becoming a Vampire” thought experiment, which shows that some choices (like becoming a vampire, having a child, or transitioning genders) involve experiences we can’t truly understand until we’ve lived them. These are called epistemically transformative experiences because they give us new kinds of knowledge, and often personally transformative experiences because they change our identity and values.

Because we can’t predict what these experiences will be like or who we’ll become afterward, standard rational decision-making—which relies on weighing known outcomes—fails. Paul suggests that instead of trying to calculate the “best” outcome, we should think in terms of whether we want to discover a new version of ourselves.

In short:
Some choices transform both what we know and who we are. Since we can’t rationally predict their value in the usual way, the rational decision is not about maximising expected utility but about deciding whether to embrace or resist transformation.