“Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires.” — René Girard.
Burgis breaks down the theories behind mimetic desire and the teachings of René Girard, why all of our behaviors are imitative, why we desire things we don’t need, and why this all leads to missing out on aspects of life that are far more meaningful and valuable.
“Rene’ Girad called this phenomenon mimetic desire: we desire something because we see others desiring it.”
Mimetic desire is the idea that people desire something because someone else desires it, or that one person's desire mimics another's . Concept developed by French philosopher René Girard, who observed that people's desires don't come from within, but rather they mimic what other people want.