Single Greatest Desire

The connection between purpose and mimetic desire

Wide is the road that leads to destruction, and narrow is the path that leads to creation—to life.

Naval Ravikant, founder of AngelList, said: “Pick your one overwhelming desire. It’s okay to suffer over that one.”

I think Naval is partly right. We certainly have to suffer in order to fulfill our greatest desire. But you don’t pick your single greatest desire; your single greatest desire picks you. Your job is to recognize and embrace it.

In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be sharing more about my journey and the spiritual dimension of mimetic theory—including sacrifice, the origins of violence, the role of prohibitions and taboos, the scapegoat mechanism, and how and why we’re all religious. So strap in.

There’s no avoiding it. If we don’t go there, mimetic desire will only be understood at a surface level. There’s no life hack or tool or technology that solves the “problem” of mimetic desire. In fact, it’s not a problem at all. It’s a reality. It’s part of human nature.

I believe that…