Who Wanted It First?
Yesterday, I tried to put my finger on what separates me from so many people I encounter. I tossed around one notion after another, but none felt quite right until I hit upon the word “quest.” Yet even that misses the mark a bit. “A quest for knowledge” has become a cliché, but it is the phrase that got me to the single word, “quest.” I search. Is that a better word? Perhaps. No matter. The point is that not enough people ask “Why?” or “How?” They just accept things as they seem to be; as they are portrayed by those who create the narratives. Even recognizing that a narrative has been created—on purpose—is beyond most of them. It was for me for far too long in my life, at least in some respects. You open that door a crack, though, and what happens? Light comes through. The light is better than the dark, even when it seems like it’s not.
Like glasses, camera lenses, and smart phones, opinions should get cleaned and inspected on a regular basis. If you never look for signs of dirt, wear, and damage, how will you know when they should be discarded?
Recapturing the past is recapturing the original impression beneath the opinion of others which hides it; it is to recognize that the opinion is not one’s own. It is to understand that the process of mediation creates a very vivid impression of autonomy and spontaneity precisely when we are no longer autonomous and spontaneous. Recapturing the past is to welcome a truth which most men spend their lives trying to escape, to recognize that one has always copied Others in order to seem original in their eyes and in one’s own. Recapturing the past is to destroy a little of one’s pride.
René Girard, Deceit, Desire, and the Novel
Girard’s theory of mimetic desire is a beautiful mechanism for studying the motivations that drive humans and for rectifying one’s harmful behaviors. The mimetic (from mimesis, imitation or mimicry) impulse is a basic component of what it means to be human. We learn to walk, to talk, to interact with others by observing and imitating the creatures that surround us. I use the word “creatures” because those stories about children adopted by wolves or surviving among animals illustrate the point rather nicely. This copying, however, does not end at age three or 13 or 59. For most, it likely never ends. That may not be a bad thing, but when it comes to what we desire and why, it can be devastating.
A young man falls in love with a young woman. They begin dating and all is well, until they settle into a routine, the bloom is off the rose, and perhaps a commitment is involved. Suddenly, that young woman who was so desirable, is not. The two decide to end their going-nowhere relationship and move on. She does, but he doesn’t. In fact, it seems as if she is always busy with dates. The young man who got bored is interested again, but the object of his re-found desire is not. He begins stalking her, threatening her, and eventually, he kills her. If he can’t have this valuable prize, well, then no one will.
Yes, it’s an extreme example, but it’s also a good illustration of how mimetic desire works: we want something because someone else (who becomes a mediator, an “Other”) has it or wanted it first. Lots of people understand this, whether they label it mimetic desire or not. They often exploit their knowledge in the advertising, sales, or entertainment industries, or in the world of Intelligence.
What’s going on in the United States right now? Which stories grab the lion’s share of headlines, screen time, and generate the most social media likes and shares? Who decides that these narratives need to be played on a nearly endless loop and why? Perhaps most importantly, which information is seen as a threat to such narratives and is censored, “fact-checked,” or called “lies,” “legends,” and “conspiracy theories”? In fact, who coined the phrase “conspiracy theory” and to what end?
