René Girard's Mimetic Desire
Historian René Girard put forth the concept of mimetic desire
“ Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind”
“All conflict, competition and rivalry, therefore, originate in mimetic desire, which eventually reaches destructive stages of conflict both between individuals and organisations”
At its base: humans imitate those around them. It’s a story of destruction and progress. Done properly, it’s a lesson to those who seek greatness: surround yourself by those who you deem to have great qualities.
Note: these people don’t need to have achieved greatness in concrete achievements, they only need to have great qualities or the potential to develop them.
Universities/fellowships/accelerators which have developed a status quo of synergistic greatness are incredible.
For entrepreneurship, think: Stanford University, Thiel Fellowship, Delta Fellowship, Y Combinator.
If Girard’s theory of mimetic desire is true, then these programs are built on principles and values that fundamentally don’t have ceilings. Humans naturally seek feelings of safety, but these programs look to turn this around -- making being ambitious, innovative, relentless, and risk-taking the new normal.
After all, words like “weird” and “normal” and “successful” are all relative. Taking opportunities that allow you to be ambitious, innovative, and relentless -- that's the cool option. These communities take these fundamental values and make it the expectation. If there's truth in mimetic desire, then I want to surround myself with these types of people.
