Recent research conducted on Burning Man sheds some light on that “something.” In 2015, a team of scientists led by Oxford neuropsychologist Molly Crockett7 joined forces with the Black Rock City Census to take a closer look at the festival’s power. In their study, 75 percent of attendees reported having a transformative experience at the event, while 85 percent of those reported that the benefits persisted for weeks and months afterward. That’s an incredibly high batting average: Three out of four people who attend the event are meaningfully changed by it.
