“Ontological shocks”: new transformations for sustainability through psychedelic tourism

Tourism experiences rarely produce the deep paradigm shifts needed for sustainability, but psychedelic tourism—involving traditional shamanic practices or high-end wellness centers—can trigger such ontological changes, altering a person's sense of reality and how they know it. Drawing on Meadows' system-dynamics leverage points, the study reviews anthropological and medical research to show that psychedelic tourism does induce these profound shifts, yet integrating them after returning home remains difficult, similar to other tourism experiences.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This study uses the concept of ontological shocks and the emerging phenomenon of psychedelic tourism to link sustainability to tourism and individual behavior through the deep, paradigmatic shifts proposed by Meadows’12 system-dynamics leverage points. Ontology concerns itself with the nature of reality – it addresses the question of “what exists?” or “what is?” and precedes epistemology, that is, how we come to know that reality. Meadows’ most profound leverage points – changing paradigms – relate to shifts in ontology, with subsequent shifts in epistemology. These deep changes are often sought in sustainability research, but such transformations are rarely achieved through tourism experiences. This study reviews existing research on psychedelics in tourism settings, primarily reported in anthropology and medical research, and explores what these deep leverage points might look like from an ontological perspective. We find that psychedelics in a tourism context, be it more traditional shamanic forms or through newer offerings in high-end wellness centers, do indeed provide exactly the types of shifts described in Meadows’ framework, but similar to other types of tourism experiences, these remain difficult to integrate once a tourist returns home.