I've been resisting, for the sake of spending time with my loved ones, but I'm ordering your book, and going to start in on Girard's catalogue as well.
After reading this article, mimesis has gone from some interesting, but abstract concept that would be "nice to know about", but now I feel it's more likely to be the kind of thing that alters my worldview significantly and that I won't be able to help bringing up in conversations.
Thank you, Conor. There is a largely positive side to mimetic desire, too, which I didn't focus on in this particular article, but that I think you'll find edifying (since you mention spending time with your loved ones). Wanting is ultimately another word for loving.
"Wanting is ultimately another word for loving" - yes. In Spanish, when you love someone, you say "Te quiero" which translated literally in English is "I want you"...a term of endearment is " querido"...from the same root: querer = to want.
A fun article, really enjoyed it. Especially like the word 'Celebristan,' I think most of social media-induced FOMO we feel nowadays falls on this plane, honestly. But I think it creates strong feelings of inferiority, and so many people I talk to feel useless in relation to it as if their lives are not "fulfilled enough" with these implanted desires they want satiated. It also possesses this algorithmically-infused addictive quality to it.
So, there is something alien in desire-production today, and I've been grappling with just turning so much of it off because it depresses me, as if my life is not "good enough." The internet is dominated by Celebristan and it can make you feel permanently behind an objective not of your own choosing.
Awesome article in brief phew! As an art curator it has helped locate and generally understand each model and different relationships. Would like to explore exhibition possibilities around some of these "themes".
This is a well written article, thank you. I feel it does overplay the role of mimetic desire, personally. I can definitely agree that one of the mechanisms influencing our desire of certain things is 'mimetic desire', but I think
1. It's not the only mechanism and
2. there are more important ones
I conclude point 1 based on analyzing some of my desires. A trivial example is cars. Desire for luxury cars can perhaps be wholly explained with mimetic desire, but which specific cars (lambos vs rolls royce) cannot. This seems benign but if you're like me and feel very strongly about one car vs. another, it makes you wonder why haha.
For point 2, thought experiment: You travel to a previously unknown country, where in their society, garbage-men are the highest prestige jobs. You then desire to become a garbage-man. The mimetic component is there of course, as you see others aspire to be garbage-men, but the key mechanism influencing your desire there is why you want prestige in the first place.
Wow. Excellent article Luke.
I've been resisting, for the sake of spending time with my loved ones, but I'm ordering your book, and going to start in on Girard's catalogue as well.
After reading this article, mimesis has gone from some interesting, but abstract concept that would be "nice to know about", but now I feel it's more likely to be the kind of thing that alters my worldview significantly and that I won't be able to help bringing up in conversations.
Thank you, Conor. There is a largely positive side to mimetic desire, too, which I didn't focus on in this particular article, but that I think you'll find edifying (since you mention spending time with your loved ones). Wanting is ultimately another word for loving.
"Wanting is ultimately another word for loving" - yes. In Spanish, when you love someone, you say "Te quiero" which translated literally in English is "I want you"...a term of endearment is " querido"...from the same root: querer = to want.
A fun article, really enjoyed it. Especially like the word 'Celebristan,' I think most of social media-induced FOMO we feel nowadays falls on this plane, honestly. But I think it creates strong feelings of inferiority, and so many people I talk to feel useless in relation to it as if their lives are not "fulfilled enough" with these implanted desires they want satiated. It also possesses this algorithmically-infused addictive quality to it.
So, there is something alien in desire-production today, and I've been grappling with just turning so much of it off because it depresses me, as if my life is not "good enough." The internet is dominated by Celebristan and it can make you feel permanently behind an objective not of your own choosing.
Awesome article in brief phew! As an art curator it has helped locate and generally understand each model and different relationships. Would like to explore exhibition possibilities around some of these "themes".
This is all very enlightening and informative
("Very few people question why they want the things they want at all.")
Especially to those from the Stoic school, where desires are examined,
and generally try to be happy with what you have, rather than seeking happiness from what you don't have (i.e. what you [or others] "desire")
This is a well written article, thank you. I feel it does overplay the role of mimetic desire, personally. I can definitely agree that one of the mechanisms influencing our desire of certain things is 'mimetic desire', but I think
1. It's not the only mechanism and
2. there are more important ones
I conclude point 1 based on analyzing some of my desires. A trivial example is cars. Desire for luxury cars can perhaps be wholly explained with mimetic desire, but which specific cars (lambos vs rolls royce) cannot. This seems benign but if you're like me and feel very strongly about one car vs. another, it makes you wonder why haha.
For point 2, thought experiment: You travel to a previously unknown country, where in their society, garbage-men are the highest prestige jobs. You then desire to become a garbage-man. The mimetic component is there of course, as you see others aspire to be garbage-men, but the key mechanism influencing your desire there is why you want prestige in the first place.