Mimetic Monday: September 13, 2021

The Food That Built America, The Contrarian, Uncontrollability

People and things worthy or unworthy of imitation.

Positive Mimesis 

I've been enjoying the show The Food That Built America—especially Season 2 (The White Castle/Nathan's hot dog episode is a personal favorite, as are all the ones about McDonald's vs. Burger King). It is produced by the amazing Lucky 8 out of New York City. Each episode is a case study in mimetic rivalry. You not only learn a fascinating part of our nation's history and get a striking depiction of the risks that entrepreneurs take to bring their vision to reality; you also see at least some of the "generative" powers of mimetic rivalry when it is applied to the economic domain. In other words, the positive side of competition: spurring important innovations out of necessity.

Negative Mimesis

My friend Jimmy Soni has a book coming out in February called The Founders, about Peter Thiel and the other PayPal co-founders—the so-called PayPal mafia. I recommend it because I know the extent of Jimmy’s serious research over the …