Introduction to Mimetic Theory | René Girard

the whole format of this lecture is another form of status signaling etc - a more refined form of mimesis! the suits the backdrop, the way they speak, the haircuts, etc! honestly, it’s great. when i was in college my problem wasn’t the mimesis itself, but the fact that people werent imitating the right stuff. now here are some actual smart, relatively independent-thinking people imitating the philosophy elites of the past. which is awesome, i mean that, but its not a transcending of mimetic desire, rather we like it because its a preferable type of person to imitate!

It's literally absurd that this level of content and production is completely free. Thank you very much, Johnathan! Incredible work!

The clothing, the furniture, the library, the vocabulary, the exchange of high-level abstract ideas. This video represents everything that I always wished for. It is such a strange thing that I will never be able to have it because I was born in the wrong geographical area filled with disease, unemployment and a general dismissal of anything cerebral. Moral of the story? Never forget your blessings and be grateful!

I will never understand how fantastic content like this gets less exposure than the unimaginative, from-a-kit, novocaine of mainstream media.

There's an irony that the backdrop and presentation of the speakers is completely focused on signalling status.

The internet is coming to life. The signal is starting to circumambulate and separate itself from all the noise for those who earnestly seek. It’s an incredible time to be alive.

Digging, digging, digging for answers…. Oh, what’s this? I see a vein….wait, omg! It’s the mother load!!! Thanks for this. Presenting it in such a concise and enjoyable way. Very much looking forward to the rest of the series.

Studying Girard made me see how much the drive for prestige shapes our ambitions. Ever since we finished this lecture, I’ve been asking myself: “What opportunities can’t I see because they’re not prestigious enough?” The very best opportunities are rarely prestigious when there’s big money to be made with them. In my experience, the lust for prestige is the strongest amongst high-status people. When looking for jobs, children from high-status families tend to value prestige the most. In another world, these people would take bets on exciting, but non-prestigious projects with big upside. My friend Justin Murphy writes: "You don't really outperform your peers with quality per se, you outperform your peers by finding underpriced quality that others don’t judge to be valuable.” Everybody wants to be high status. But despite the financial rewards, few people are willing to work on low-status projects, even if they have the potential to become high-status. Most of the people who are jumping into Bitcoin now weren’t willing to commit a few years ago, back when people scoffed at the idea of digital money. Only after reading Rene Girard did I realize the dangers of chasing too much prestige. The worst rivalries, he said, come when people aren’t competing for a physical object. Duels and comment thread wars come to mind. To that end, it’s no coincidence that the Latin word for prestige is praestigiae, which signifies an illusion or mirage. The world is filled with under-priced opportunities that are only available to people who are comfortable with promising, but low-status projects. Beware of chasing prestige.

This lecture was so compelling that it overshadows the personal quibbles by others on here.

Brilliant! So well done! Waiting for lecture 2. You two could fire up any sluggish mind. Thank you so much!!

Thank you for this depth of art you have curated for the general public.

Well done guys. So much work went into producing this so we can digest the content in a format that's actually entertaining. Kudos to you both

Nothing to advertise in the background. The lecturer actually knows what he is talking about and the listener is not just listening, he is absorbing. You could tell the originality of the piece when the speaker tells the moderator that though he got all the things right about his career achievements, but he missed his failures. Including them is important as he attributes to where he is today because of them only. An amazing discourse on Rene Girard's school of thought. You guys are doing a great service to the society.

This is one of the best hidden gems of Youtube.

Thank you for this Johnathan and David. I am so happy this exists. I'll watch all the lecture series. Cheers to both of you.

this right here, is the content i want to see in youtube, educational, well made, entertaining, engaging, pls gents keep doing the great work you are doing.

Mimetics: learning about the theory for the first time and finding this lecture which is only a few months old. Thank you for this, it’s possibly the most important podcast I’ve listened to in my life.

I have never seen something like this, brilliantly done. Eagerly waiting for the next set of lectures!

Johnathan you've done a brilliant job and I'm glad to see the many positive responses. I've been reading Girard for over 20 years and wrote the book "Compassion Or Apocalypse: A Comprehensible Guide to the Thought of René Girard." I would love to connect with you sometime. Well done.

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