Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life

While we fight for equality in the areas that do matter—for fundamental human and civil rights, or for the freedom for each person to pursue their thick desires (in the United States, this is called the “the pursuit of happiness”)—we also begin fighting for equality in areas that do not matter, our thin desires: to make as much money as someone els

Despite consumerism’s many problems, it channels rivalry and desires into places where the negative effects accrue primarily to the people who indulge their thin desires.

The health of an organization is directly proportional to the speed at which truth travels within it.

Desires are discerned, not decided. Discernment exists in the liminal space between what’s now and what’s next. Transcendent leaders create that space in their own lives, and in the lives of the people around them.

Transcendent leadership does not limit itself to the immediate layer of reality but pushes beyond it to find something more meaningful.

One approach I recommend for uncovering thick desires—the one I’ll focus on here—involves taking the time to listen to the most deeply fulfilling experiences of your colleagues’ (or partners’, or friends’, or classmates’) lives, and sharing your own with them. The more we understand one another’s stories of meaningful achievement, the more effectiv

Entrepreneurship has many recognized occupational hazards, from mental health risks to burnout to substance abuse and financial instability.

Empathy is the ability to share in another person’s experience—but without imitating them (their speech, their beliefs, their actions, their feelings) and without identifying with them to the point that one’s own individuality and self-possession are lost. In this sense, empathy is anti-mimetic.

Discovering and developing thick desires protects against cheap mimetic desires—and ultimately leads to a more fulfilling life.