René Girard, mimetic desire, and society's biggest rat race
Leo Nasskauempoweredbelonging.substack.com
René Girard, mimetic desire, and society's biggest rat race
“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 ackno... See more
Luke Burgis • Just a moment...
sari added
French literary theorist and anthropologist Rene Girard called mimetic desire, meaning, we want what someone else wants, because we want to be that someone else.
Jonathan Sacks • Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible (Covenant & Conversation Book 8)
If the French critic René Girard was still above ground, he’d explain to the confused anthropologist that among our species, the intensity of competition tells you very little about underlying value. Instead, we borrow our desires from others: a toddler will try to seize a toy which held no interest to him until his playmate wanted it—and we never
... See moreRichard Meadows • Optionality: How to Survive and Thrive in a Volatile World
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
Ruby Justice Thelot • In Praise of Gatekeeping
sari added
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.
Farnam Street • Luke Burgis: The Power of Mimetic Desire [The Knowledge Project Ep. #138]
Juan Orbea added
Girard's point o departure is what he calles "mimesis," the conflict that arises when human rivals compete to differentiate themselves from each other, yet succeed only in becoming more and more alike. At certain points in the life of a society, according to Girard, this mimetic conflict erupts into a crisis in which all difference dissolves in ind... See more
O'Reilly Media • Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World
Juan Orbea added
Mimetic desire enables us to escape from the animal realm. It is responsible for the best and the worst in us, for what lowers us below the animal level as well as what elevates us above it. Our unending discords are the ransom of our freedom.