LUKE BURGIS: How humans “want”: Mimetic desire explained

LUKE BURGIS: How humans “want”: Mimetic desire explained

Luke Burgis (ethical entrepreneur, mimetic desire expert) reckons none of us knows what we want. We like to think we are incredibly original creators of our artfully curated lives. But, in fact, we only ever mimic others’ desires. Luke’s thesis draws on the work of philosopher Rene Girard who coined the term “mimetic desire” and who has become an obsession among Silicon Valley bros. I was keen to find out why Girard’s idea has become so hot and asked Luke to join me to put things straight.


Luke is a veteran entrepreneur, the entrepreneur-in-residence at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, named by the Financial Times as one of the most important business books of 2021.


In this chat we cover how the social media pile-on is not so much about difference, why women are so often scapegoats and how Lamborghini cars came about due to a mimetic rivalry with Ferrari (and their bad clutches).


SHOW NOTES

Wanting is available to purchase here

You can follow Luke’s writing over on his Substack: Anti-Mimetic

Follow Luke on Instagram


If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page

For more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it’s where I interact the most!

Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life

Let’s connect on Instagram


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(215)

INDY JOHAR: "How do we prepare the world for what’s coming?"

INDY JOHAR: "How do we prepare the world for what’s coming?"

Indy Johar (founder of Dark Matter Labs, systems designer) closes this 12-part series on the life-enhancing “what comes next” that we need (and want) to be creating. Indy is one of the world’s most or...

7 Jul 1h 17min

SARAH STEIN LUBRANO: How do we change people’s minds about what’s happening to the world?

SARAH STEIN LUBRANO: How do we change people’s minds about what’s happening to the world?

Sarah Stein Lubrano (neuroscientist, political scientist, former obituary writer!) is an expert in how to change people’s minds most effectively and for the betterment of all beings. In this chat, we ...

30 Jun 1h 4min

JOHN SEED: Is Deep Ecology the answer?

JOHN SEED: Is Deep Ecology the answer?

John Seed (Deep Ecology OG, global rainforest steward) says we can’t save the world. And that the planetary crisis is not a failure of information or awareness; it’s a failure of human identity. We ha...

23 Jun 57min

JEREMY LENT: Can humans build a (beautiful) new civilisation?

JEREMY LENT: Can humans build a (beautiful) new civilisation?

Jeremy Lent (author, systems thinker) is a leading authority on civilisations and has just created a manifesto on how to shift from the current crumbling one to what he calls an Ecocivilization. He jo...

16 Jun 56min

FRANCIS WELLER: “Grief will wake us up”…so how do we do good grief again?

FRANCIS WELLER: “Grief will wake us up”…so how do we do good grief again?

Francis Weller (psychotherapist, bestselling author + “soul activist”) believes we have entered a “Long Dark”, a multi-decade (century?) period of collapse and psychological pain that will demand we l...

2 Jun 1h 1min

RUTH BEN-GHIAT: How do we create a values-led politic from this mess?

RUTH BEN-GHIAT: How do we create a values-led politic from this mess?

Ruth Ben-Ghiat (historian of fascism +NYT bestselling author of Strongmen) is an internationally recognised expert in how psychologically unstable men come to power and use corruption, sexual predatio...

26 Mai 59min

ZAK STEIN: How do we raise kids in a metacrisis?

ZAK STEIN: How do we raise kids in a metacrisis?

Zak Stein (Harvard philosopher of education, AI + kids expert) is worried that we are not raising and educating our kids for the kind of wobbly, harsh future they will be inheriting. Zak is a Harvard ...

19 Mai 1h 11min

MICHAEL MUTHUKRISHNA: Can we cooperate our way out of this? (Warning: a tricky episode!)

MICHAEL MUTHUKRISHNA: Can we cooperate our way out of this? (Warning: a tricky episode!)

Michael Muthukrishna (behavioural scientist, cultural evolution researcher) has a unified “theory of everyone” that says we evolved as a species, surviving crises and collapses, through cooperative no...

12 Mai 1h 16min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
grenselos
alt-fortalt
wolfgang-wee-uncut
den-politiske-situasjonen
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
synnve-og-vanessa
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-siktet
krisemoter
bokmerket-2
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem