Mimetic Theory
Philosopher René Girard's Mimetic Theory philosophy holds the keys to rewiring your mind and escaping the traps of Mimesis.
An interesting thread on Twitter by David Perell (thread • 27 tweets • 6 min read) on Philosopher René Girard1 and his Mimetic Theory2. This thread is focused on education, but really is a concept that can explain a lot of behavior we experience in the world.
Why do elite colleges pump students into the same five industries: law, medicine, tech, investing, and management consulting?
For answers, let’s turn to the philosopher René Girard.
Modern childhood is structured like a conveyor belt. Every kid progresses at the same speed, no matter how much they learn. Follow the conveyor belt and you’ll be successful. High school leads into college, which leads into graduate school, which leads into a prestigious career.
Whenever I meet a college kid, I ask: “Would you rather get a C in a class but actually learn the material, or an A in the class without learning anything?” Most kids conform to conveyor belt logic and reluctantly choose the A.
Sure, some students like the conveyor belt. They like knowing what they need to do and when they need to do it. Generally, these conformists are more interested in the rewards of good grades than the fruits of knowledge. They're good students and good employees.
Other people, like me, loathe the conveyor belt system. They feel like the rewards aren’t worth the effort. They don’t want to follow the syllabus in class and certainly don’t want their instructional manual for life to come from bureaucrats and school teachers.
René Girard says there are two kinds of desire: physical and metaphysical desire. Physical desire is wanting an object for its inherent qualities, like a glass of water because you’re thirsty — or learning for the sake of learning. This is healthy.
Metaphysical desire is different. Acquiring the object only brings you joy because of the person it makes you become. You only care about it because of what it says about you — like learning for good grades or a diploma. This is unhealthy.
People driven by metaphysical desire think achievement will bring them complete satisfaction. They think Straight A’s and an impressive job will fulfill them. But no matter what they achieve, and no matter how much they progress down the conveyor belt, they still feel empty.
The conveyor belt runs on the fuel of metaphysical desire. We copy other people's desires and mistake them for our own. Eventually, we can no longer hear the whims of our inner voice. Our desires undermine us and go against our best interests.
Too many students are numb to the inherent joys of working. "Learning” is only a worthy endeavor when it helps them advance to the next stage. Their satisfactions are fleeting and followed by emptiness. Like a mirage in the desert, they never quench their thirst for achievement.
There's a scarcity of physical desire and a surplus of metaphysical desire. Even after a 16 years in the classroom, too many students are unaware of who they really are and what they really care for. They have no sense of curiosity and no clue what interests them.
Intuitively, they know something is off. They're ruled by metaphysical desire. As a student recently told me: “I feel like nobody enjoys school. They all just put up with it. I feel like nobody likes this shit, and I’m at a point in my life where I can’t put up with it anymore.”
Kids who follow the conveyor belt path have mirroring desires, which leads to stress and anxiety. Each year, more and more high schoolers dream of getting into Ivy League schools that promise salvation, but cap their acceptance numbers like a Berlin nightclub.
With the conveyor belt mindset comes a fear of failure. Fall off and you fall behind… so don’t make any mistakes. One poor test, and their report card will be forever tainted. One poor semester, and their chances at an Ivy League education are gone.
And since your advancement has capped upside, why be creative?
Real life doesn’t work like this though. There is no speed limit. An interesting life has no default path. News flash: Life doesn't end at 30. Learning is crucial, but perfection isn't what it's cracked up to be.
If we’d explicitly designed an environment for Mimetic competition, we’d build a system like the one we have today: insane competition for limited spots, and the pursuit of meaningless rewards, and undifferentiated students who compete for the same scarce status symbols.
Meaningless prizes lead to brutal rivalries. Reflecting on his time at universities, Henry Kissinger once said: “Academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small.”
Why is differentiation important? Peace and stability. People don’t envy those who are very different from them, which is why people have historically envied their neighbors and friends more than billionaires. “Love thy neighbor” can be harder than loving someone distant.
The worst fighting happens amongst equals. The first line of Romeo and Juliet says: “Two houses, both alike in dignity.” The hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets is so fierce 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 they are so similar.
For Girard, a lack of differentiation sows the seeds of violence. Facebook’s mission of connecting the world is something to fear instead of celebrate. Global visibility increases the scale of imitation and the potential for Mimetic rivalry.
By reducing distance between the poor and the rich, social media makes us hate billionaires. Gatsby’s parties were invite-only and reserved for the West Egg elite, while these days, Elon Musk’s private jet is tracked in real-time on Twitter.
The arc of history is leading to less differentiation. The common core has every public school student in America following the same curriculum. SATs have them studying for the same tests. The prestige of an Ivy League diploma has them applying to the same schools.
Multinational corporations have them competing for the same jobs. Nearly every college kid wants to work in the same five industries: law, tech, medicine, investing, and consulting — which is what Girard feared. They’re stuck in claustrophobic bubbles and blind to opportunities.
Kids are told that riding the conveyor belt is the key to success. But schools are procrustean, individuality-smashing machines. The trophies are hollow. The grades are basically meaningless. Their rewards bring fleeting satisfaction.
Does their angst surprise you?
The alternative is a school system that encourages differentiation. A system where kids are encouraged to explore their curiosity and escape the narrow, conformity-inducing conveyor belt. Girard's philosophy holds the keys to rewiring your mind and escaping the traps of Mimesis.
I talk more about these ideas in this lecture series about Girard’s philosophy, which you can watch below.
https://www.youtube.com/@johnathan_bi
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
René Girard is the founder of mimetic theory. He died in 2015 as a member of the elite Academy Francaise for his groundbreaking work into human nature after having spent nearly fifty years elaborating his theory of mimetic desire, mimetic rivalry, scapegoating, and the foundations of human cultures and institutions.
Mimetic Theory is a concept developed by twentieth-century French anthropologist René Girard who saw that human desire is not individual but collective, or social. This has led to conflict and violence throughout human history.
https://mimetictheory.com/what-it-is-2/