Saved by kev and
How to Know What You Really Want | Psyche Guides
Girard discovered that most of what we desire is mimetic (mi-met-ik) or imitative, not intrinsic. Humans learn—through imitation—to want the same things other people want, just as they learn how to speak the same language and play by the same cultural rules. Imitation plays a far more pervasive role in our society than anyone had ever openly acknow
... See moreLuke Burgis • Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
![Thumbnail of Luke Burgis: The Power of Mimetic Desire [The Knowledge Project Ep. #138]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sublimeinternet-public-storage-production/media/images/thumbnails/curation/742b1d6b/thumbnail.png)
Girard taught that all desire is fundamentally a desire for being. In other words, all desire is metaphysical—it seeks a kind of inner transformation, a transfiguration of identity, which we desperately seek but even more desperately deny.
Luke Burgis • Cargo Cult Startups
Our goals are often not even our own; we borrow them from peers, celebrities, and what we imagine society expects from us. French philosopher René Girard called this phenomenon mimetic desire: we desire something because we see others desiring it. In other words, our goals mimic the goals of others.