Summary:

Luke Burgis’ “Wanting” is a fascinating reflection on the theories of the late philosopher, René Girard, and how they apply to a variety of different historical events as well as significant life events of the entrepreneurial author. The style of writing can be best described as “millenialesque” which sometimes incorporates the informal writing styles common in social media posts. It feels very much like an unfinished work, an attempt to extract some knowledge and reflection from a tumultuous life, likely a work as much for the sake of the author than its readers. Below I attempt to summarize the main components and ideas brought forth by the book.

The principle idea shared in the book is the concept of “Mimetic Desire”. Mimetic desire is the concept that human’s do not have an intrinsic desire by themselves, they are born into a social world of other humans who serve as models for desire. For example, when a baby is born, it quickly examines its environment and sees other humans, and quickly learns what other humans want based on their actions, and soon an unconscious desire builds to want the same thing those humans want, an attempt to imitate desire or wanting. In short, we unconsciously want what we perceive others to want. Luke writes, “We imitate not for the sake of imitation itself but for the sake of differentiating ourselves – to try to forge an identity relative to other people.” The idea that we have independent desires not shaped by others is what Luke refers to as the “Romantic Lie”. Mimetic desire is then viewed as the fundamental force that causes great conflicts in human history as well as the force that causes great progress. Both conflicts and progress are results of a circular logic that creates cycles that reinforce themselves until broken.

The two fundamental cycles of mimetic desire are labeled “Cycle 1” and “Cycle 2”. Cycle 1 leads to “tension, conflict, and volatility, breaking down relationships and causing instability and confusion as competing desires interact in volatile ways.” Cycle 2 is a “positive cycle in which mimetic desire unites people in a shared desire for some common good.” Most of the book focuses on the perils of Cycle 1 and how to get out of it. Luke goes on to describe Cycle 1, “When mimesis is strong enough, rivals forget about whatever objects they were fighting for in the first place. Objects become completely interchangeable – the rivals will fight for anything, so long as their opponent wants it. They become locked in a double bind – each reflexively bound to the desires of the other, unable to escape.” The essence of the first cycle is that “sameness causes conflict”. Luke creates a term called “Freshmenistan”. Freshmenistan is a place resembling the freshmen year of high school. A group of people very similar to each other are placed into a single setting where they each compete fiercely to establish their identities. In Freshemistan there is intense competition for each model, and only one person can be it. “An unspoken battle of differentiation occurs as each person tries to carve out an identity over and against the rest.” However, negative mimetic cycles can be disrupted “when two people, through empathy, stop seeing each other as rivals.”

Negative cycles can also end through the scapegoat mechanism, which Luke thoroughly discusses. René Girard saw the importance of sacrifice in virtually all human cultures. Luke writes, “When societies were threatened with disorder, they used violence to drive out violence. They would expel or destroy a chosen person or group, and this action would have the effect of preventing more widespread violence.” A modern example of a scapegoat is a sports team that has had a bad streak of games, and the team management decides to fire the coach who serves as a convenient scapegoat to signal to the fans that the team’s direction has changed and better times are ahead. Luke spends considerable time reviewing the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and notes that although Jesus served as a convenient scapegoat, the mechanism failed because too many people were aware of the good deeds Jesus did and that he did not deserve to be sacrificed. “The story forces people to come to grips with their own violence. A veil was lifted on the recurring cycle of violence in human history.”

The book fails to put as much attention onto the positive mimetic cycles of Cycle 2. Luke writes, “Great leaders start and sustain positive cycles of desire.” A key feature of a positive desire cycle is that the model that is desired is unattainable, and therefore impossible to directly compete for. For example, if your role model is a celebrity or a person in history whom you will never meet, you have the opportunity to use that person as a model of desire, and yet you will never have to compete with that person for that identity.

Several relevant topics are discussed towards the end of the book. Luke writes a statement which applies the concept to understand modern western culture, “When happiness becomes the dominant desire in a community in which nobody knows what happiness is or how to achieve it, everyone looks to their right and their left to find models of desire that seem worthy of following.” Luke also discusses the importance of meditation where he writes that the goal of meditating is to learn “how to not have a goal”. And on the importance of meaningful work Luke writes, “Two doctors could make exactly the same rounds in the same hospital after ten years, one could grow bitter and resentful as a result of the long hours, bad cafeteria food, broken insurance system, and ungrateful patients; the other could experience the same things but use them to become a more caring, patient, and understanding human being.” Luke writes about René Girard, “Toward the end of his life, Rene Girard grew increasingly worried that we faced a future in which there would be more mimesis – wars with no definitive end, technology fueling our most mimetic instincts, and globalization as an accelerant of mimetic crises – with no means of controlling the conflict.” And finishing the book Luke claims, “There have been two major social inventions in history that mitigated the negative consequences of mimetic desire: the scapegoat mechanism and the market economy. Could there be a third?”

I enjoyed reading the book but I do feel that it is unfinished and not fully coherent. There some interesting concepts discussed and some ideas more developed and others less so. It makes for an interesting read for those interested in understanding the fundamental motivations of people, but it left me feeling that the theory is incomplete or that the author failed to fully grasp the concepts of René Girard and translate them for the non-academic audience. I do see some truth in the statement that sameness causes conflict, and it is interesting to think that many cultures have a creation story of two twins or similar groups of people fighting each other for similar desires. I feel that differentiation is a fundamental need for people, you see it in all animals, particularly in mating practices, where a decision is made by differentiating those who will father the next generation and those who will not.

Favorite Quotes:

“Human beings fight not because they are different, but because they are the same…” Rene Girard, first sentence of class. P.7

“The more that people are forced to be the same – the more pressure they feel to think and feel and want the same things – the more intensely they fight to differentiate themselves.” P.12

“Each one of us has a responsibility to shape the desires of others, just as they shape ours.” P.13

“whom are you more jealous of? Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world? Or someone in your field, maybe even in your office, who is as competent as you and works the same amount of hours you do but who a better title and makes an extra $10,000 per year?” p. 48

“Liquid modernity is a chaotic phase of history in which there are no culturally agreed-upon models to follow, no fixed points of reference.” P.55

“I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.” P.62 by Groucho Marx

“Most people gauge their happiness relative to other people.” P.90

“A good leader never becomes an obstacle or rival.” P.177

“The health of an organization is directly proportional to the speed at which truth travels within it.” P.177

“If truth is distorted, withheld or slowed, companies can’t adapt fast enough to changing circumstances.” P.177

“The word “decision” comes from the Latin word caedere, which means ‘to cut.’ When we decide to pursue one thing, we necessarily cut away another. “ p.179

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone” p.181 by Blaise Pascal

“The vast majority of people are not thinking about mere survival; they are trying to figure out what to want next and how they can get it.” P.191

“Authoritarian regimes can only stay in existence so long as they can control what people want.” P.196

“The value of work cannot be measured by the objective output of a job alone; it must take into account the subjective transformation of the person who is working.” P.206

June 1, 2022 - Here is a podcast interview with the author describing the main concepts of Girard's ideas in this book. I highly recommend this podcast, it may be even better than the book!