Dissolution of the Expert Self

The expert self is the identity a person constructs from years of accumulated mastery. It is not an accessory to the self; it is a structural element, a way of being in the world organized around the question 'What am I uniquely good at?' The AI transition is dissolving expert selves at unprecedented pace. The dissolution is not uniform across domains, but the pattern is consistent: vastness triggers accommodation, and the success or failure of accommodation determines whether dissolution produces the emergence of a new identity or produces collapse. Keltner's framework identifies three characteristic responses — defensive entrenchment, premature abandonment, and awe-mediated dissolution — and specifies the conditions under which each occurs. The third response, the healthiest, is the rarest, because it requires conditions the AI transition has been slow to provide.