The Mimetic Theory of Desire (A Brief Introduction)

Mimetic theory of desire was developed by French anthropologist René Girard in the 20th century when he realised that human desire is communal and collective rather than individual. This has led to conflict and violence throughout human history.

According to https://mimetictheory.com/what-it-is-2/

• Mimetic Desire (want): When a person's basic needs—food, sex, safety, and shelter—are addressed, they enter the domain of want, where they are not guided by their instincts or a biological "radar." Rather, other persons start to appear on their radar. People are motivated by the desires of others. Desire has a social component.

• Tension(Conflict).Conflict will unavoidably arise when people fight for the same products because people want what other people want. Mimetic rivalry results from mimetic theory. 

• Scapegoating.Human communities have typically used the scapegoating mechanism to deal with chaos caused by mimetic contagion. This mechanism involves groups using mimetic processes to identify a single person or issue as the cause of their problems and then violently expelling or eliminating that person from the community. 

• The Disguise (The cover Up).Human civilization develops around the scapegoating mechanism once it has been put into place in order to hide the first murder. The founder murder is ritually reenacted repeatedly as a form of catharsis and as a means of stopping the spread of additional violence. Taboos, bans, and other laws are implemented to stop the spread of violence that preceded the original founding murder. This is essentially a complex cultural disingenuousness. This applies to states, neighbourhoods, establishments, and even households.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Imagine You Are A Success

Psychology says that we are controlled by what we think, believe or imagine more than any other factor. Our beliefs control everything we do, If we believed (or rather imagined) that wearing clothes was useless, we would all be walking around naked. It is very imperative that we understand that we control our lives through the type of thoughts we choose to hold in our minds. Take the person who jumps in front of a speeding car on the highway(commits suicide), in their mind their action is justified and probably seen as necessary hence it is carried out. Now that i have laid my foundation... In his book Psychocybernetics, Maxwell Maltz says "Realizing that our actions, feelings and behavior are the e result of our own images and beliefs gives us the lever that psychology has always needed for changing personality.Mental pictures offer us an opportunity to "practice" new traits and attitudes, which otherwise we could not do.  This is possible because again—your nervous sy...
Read more

The Unwritten Rules of Africa: Navigating a Complex Identity (Economics part 1)

The economic life of the African continent is shaped by a complex mix of historical events and current realities. To truly understand it, we must examine the deep-rooted challenges and psychological patterns that emerged from centuries of outside control and resource extraction. A History of Economic Struggle The rule of economic struggle is deeply rooted in a colonial history of dependency. Foreign powers didn't just come to trade; they methodically took apart existing African economies. They dismissed local practices as "outdated" and forced new systems upon the people. This historical redirection of resources created a fundamental weakness, turning the continent into a mere supplier of raw materials. All the infrastructure they built, like railways and ports, was primarily designed to transport these resources from inland to the coast for export. This framework created an economic gap and a dependency that has continued long after African nations gained their independe...
Read more

A Transformed Mind

Many of us are rigid in thought hence we are stagnant in life. The good news is that we have the ability to change our minds - our thought patterns (perceptions, beliefs..) One of my prayers these days is "God transform my mind". That is because i am well aware that if my mind is transformed, my life will be transformed. Our thoughts are often revealed in our actions. I am writing this right now because an idea came into my mind and i thought it was a great idea to express my revelation about my life in this manner. The action is preceded by thought. The word transformation is a compound word - transition & form or "formation". A transition takes time so it is imperative that we are patient and recognize that it will take time for our minds to be transformed. Transformation is a process often filled with pain and fear. That does not mean we must not persue change but bear in mind that it will be challenging.  Behaviors and/or habits lead to results but we often ...
Read more