Reflexivity
A two-way feedback loop in which perceptions affect an environment and the environment then affects perceptions. In a mimetic rivalry, neither party can act without affecting the perceptions and desires of the other. Financial manager and philanthropist George Soros made the principle of reflexivity a key to his investment strategy by noticing that financial markets […]
External Mediation
When a person imitates the desires of someone separated by time or space or social sphere and there is little chance of the person ever coming into contact with their model. In external mediation, the model mediates desire from outside, or external to, the world of the subject. Also called Celebristan.
Celebristan
The world of external mediation.
Freshmenistan
The world of internal mediation.
Internal Mediation
When a person lives within the same time, place, or social sphere as their model and the likelihood of coming into contact with the model is high. In internal mediation, the model mediates desire from inside, or internal to, the world of the subject. With the social and economic flattening of the world, more desire […]
Mimetic Desire Examples
Mimetic desire can be understood as an abstract concept, but it doesn’t really hit home until we see it in concrete events in the world around us—and in our own life. A young girl posts a selfie to Instagram. She’s beaming next to her new boyfriend at a sushi restaurant. Her ex, who she hasn’t […]
Mediation of Desire
What models of desire do—or the process through which desire takes shape from the relationship between a subject and a model. Models are mediators of desire, which means that they always stand between the person imitating them and the objects of desire that they model for that person. There is no way for an imitator […]
Double Bind
When a model notices that someone is imitating him and takes the imitator as his own model in return. The more that each party is drawn into mimesis and doubles down on the rivalry, the stronger the mimetic bond between them becomes. Each side is bound to the other (the double bind) because each side […]
Discernment
A process for making decisions that includes but goes beyond rational analysis. It comes from the Latin word meaning to distinguish one thing from another. Discernment involves a power of perception, tacit knowledge, and ability to “read” desires. Because desires lack scientific and objective criteria to judge, discernment is required to choose between which desires […]
Stoicism and Mimetic Desire
American cultural lumineers like Tim Ferriss (stoicism is “an ideal operating system for thriving in high-stress environments”) and Nassim Nicholas Taleb (“A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking”) have embraced and promoted the philosophy in their work. Ryan Holiday built a brand around […]