Why Do We Want What We Want?

Why Do We Want What We Want?

Why do we want the things we want? While we'll offer up plenty of reasons to explain our choices, my guest today says the real reason we want what we want is this: other people in our lives want those same things.

His name is Luke Burgis and he's studied philosophy, theology, and classical literature, works as a business entrepreneur, investor, and educator, and is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. Luke and I discuss how our desires are strongly mimetic, that is, imitative, and how there are two groups of people that act as models of desire for us: celebrities and public figures who are distant from us, and friends, family, and colleagues who are close to us. Luke explains why it's actually that latter group where we experience the most rivalry and conflict, because the more similar we are, the more we end up competing for the same things, the more envy we experience, and the more we want to differentiate ourselves from the crowd, even though the areas in which to do so can be increasingly small. In fact, someone can be a model of desire, not only in influencing us to imitate them, but in motivating us to act in the opposite way. Luke shares how mimetic desire can be both a negative and destructive or a positive and productive force, and offers advice on how to harness it for the latter purpose by humbly recognizing the way other people are influencing our wants, and using that knowledge to opt out of games we don't want to play, utilize the healthy aspects of competition without allowing it to get us off track, and intentionally choose worthy, even transcendent, models of desire to emulate.

Get the show notes at aom.is/wanting.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Avsnitt(1158)

Ecclesiastes on Enjoying Our Weirdly Unsatisfying Lives

Ecclesiastes on Enjoying Our Weirdly Unsatisfying Lives

Of all the books in the Bible, Ecclesiastes is arguably the most philosophical. Dark, experiential, existential, and unsparingly honest about the human condition, it wrestles with work, money, ambitio...

10 Feb 55min

How to Help Disengaged Young Men Reclaim Drive and Direction

How to Help Disengaged Young Men Reclaim Drive and Direction

Not long ago, the primary concern people had about boys was that they were wild, impulsive, and out of control — getting into fights, pushing limits, and stirring up trouble. Today, the problem has fl...

3 Feb 44min

The Click Effect — Inside the Science and Magic of Social Chemistry

The Click Effect — Inside the Science and Magic of Social Chemistry

We’ve all had that feeling — you meet someone new, and the conversation just flows. You’re in sync. You click. But what’s really happening when that magic occurs?My guest today is journalist Kate Murp...

27 Jan 54min

How Football Took Over America — and Could Collapse

How Football Took Over America — and Could Collapse

American football is so big — so braided into our weekends, our language, and our culture — that it can be hard to see it clearly as a whole.In his new book, Football, Chuck Klosterman helps us see th...

20 Jan 57min

Money and Meaning — What Faith Traditions Teach Us About Personal Finance

Money and Meaning — What Faith Traditions Teach Us About Personal Finance

We usually think of money as something very practical, concrete, and secular; we earn it, save it, spend it, and crunch the numbers behind it. But money is never just about money: it reflects our valu...

13 Jan 45min

Strong, Conditioned, and Ready for Anything — How to Become a Hybrid Athlete

Strong, Conditioned, and Ready for Anything — How to Become a Hybrid Athlete

For decades, fitness culture has tended to break people into two categories: you’re either a strength guy or an endurance guy. You lift heavy or run far — but not both.But my guest today says you don'...

6 Jan 59min

How to Use Probability Hacking to Achieve Your Goals

How to Use Probability Hacking to Achieve Your Goals

Most of us chase goals — starting a business, running a marathon, getting a promotion — without ever asking: What are the actual odds this will work?My guest today says those odds aren’t just graspabl...

30 Dec 202550min

Escape the Happiness Trap

Escape the Happiness Trap

Note: This is a rebroadcast. Happiness is the subject of thousands of articles, podcasts, and scientific studies. Yet all this focus on happiness doesn’t seem to be making people any happier. In fact,...

23 Dec 202551min

Populärt inom Utbildning

historiepodden-se
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
det-skaver
alska-oss
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
nu-blir-det-historia
not-fanny-anymore
sektledare
allt-du-velat-veta
johannes-hansen-podcast
roda-vita-rosen
rss-viktmedicinpodden
rss-foraldramotet-bring-lagercrantz
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
sa-in-i-sjalen
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
rss-beratta-alltid-det-har
rss-npf-podden
rss-pa-insidan-med-bjorn-rudman