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“Against Girardian mimesis” by Viliam
Wikipedia summarizes René Girard's mimetic theory like this:
Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires.
In other words, you think you want something for your own internal reasons, but the actual reason you want it is that someone else wants it, and that makes you desire the thing and compete for it.
The "someone else" whose desires you copy is someone you care about. It could be a friend, a sibling, or a colleague. It could also be a famous person, or even a fictional…
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