Mimetic desire: what it is, how it affects us and what are its causes

One of the aspects of social life involves seeing in others things that we do not have and that arouses some envy. Be it wealth, beauty, property or way of being, there are things that seem to make other people happy, so it makes sense to want it for us too.

With the great influence of the mass media, especially social networks in recent years, a social phenomenon such as mimetic desire has been gaining more and more strength. People yearn for what they see in the media, what makes famous people look like successful people.

In this article we are going to talk about this curious concept that, although it must have existed throughout history, it has not been until relatively recently that it has been baptized as mimetic desire. Let's dive into it a bit.

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What is mimetic desire?

Defining the mimetic desire is not easy, despite the fact that no one escapes its spell. We can say that it is about a social desire based, basically, on wanting the same thing as others

As a result of envy and the idea that if there is something that seems to make other people happy, why wouldn't it make us happy? It is inevitable to long for the things that others have.

This desire must have been present throughout the entire history of mankind, but has been intensifying exponentially in consumerist societies. Capitalism, supported by the media, have awakened unnecessary needs in people, who bombarded with all kinds of ads and advertising in movies, series and, more currently, on social networks they see products and services they would like have. We don't need them, but the mass media make sure that we think just the opposite.

The mimetic desire already begins to manifest itself in childhood, something that can be observed in babies. Consider one of them, surrounded by many toys but who ignores them because he is too busy playing with his pacifier. Suddenly, his older brother comes who wants to play with a toy car that was lying around. The baby, when he sees his little brother, starts throwing a tantrum because he now wants to play with that car To which until a few seconds ago I was not paying any attention.

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The origin of the concept

While mimetic desire has existed throughout human history, it was the philosopher René Girard who coined the term during the 1970s. He originally conceived it by analyzing great works of world literature, seeing a common pattern. Some examples that Girard himself analyzed were “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes, “Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert, "Red and Black" by Stendhal, "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust and some works by Dostoevsky.

The protagonist of many of those works he longed to be what other great characters had been, feeling great discomfort for not having achieved it. They were stories that reflected how inside the characters a desire was awakened that was not genuine, but to be just like their idol. This recurring figure in universal literature was what made René Girard raise the idea of ​​mimetic desire, very applicable to people. of flesh and blood and that is articulated not only in the world of advertising and the mass media, but also in sexual desire, business or the esthetic.

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Examples of mimetic desire

Social media fuels mimetic desire. They make us see things every day objects and services that we do not need but that by the simple fact of seeing it in the mainstream media arouse our interest. It is this desire that makes us all end up imitating one another, becoming a homogeneous society. We feel that if we do not have the same as others, we are not worth it, that we do not fit in, with which it can be understood that the mimetic desire can be a source of discomfort.

With or without social media, this mimetic desire contributes to fashion trends. For example, anyone whose childhood has passed in the 2000s will remember that at that time colored silicone bracelets with engraved phrases became fashionable. Although these bracelets were in the opinion of many simple, ugly and tacky, every boy and girl who did not have one was seen as a freak. For this reason many fell into the social pressure and they spent their weekly pay comparing them.

Another more recent example is the case of spinners, a trend that even hit adults. Today they are still being sold, but it was 5 or 6 years ago when everyone was crazy about these toys that to this day we don't really know what they were for. Some said they were used to relax, others that they helped children to concentrate. The only thing they seemed to be used for was taking people's rooms out with the excuse that whoever didn't have it, he would miss it.

These are just two of the many examples that we could give that would serve to demonstrate the effect of this socio-psychological phenomenon. Mimetic desire articulates all fashions, explains our most basic motivations, defines business rivalry and, sadly, is also behind of the appearance and chronification of certain psychological disorders, such as behavioral disorders food.

In fact, René Girard himself talks about the relationship of an eating disorder with mimetic desire in his book "Anorexia and mimetic desire" (2009). In this post he talks about how the canon of beauty has exercised a true tyranny, causing many women to crave an extremely slim body, similar to that of supermodels and other celebrities.

It also happens with men who, eager to have the body of actors, influencers and figures Public like Jason Momoa or Chris Evans end up developing an image disorder such as vigorexia. Not surprisingly, augmented by social media, it seems that having a well-sculpted body is synonymous with unlimited happiness, wealth, and sex appeal.

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Mimetic desire, survival, and psychological distress

It is believed that this desire to have what others have would have an evolutionary explanation and implicated in survival. This question has been addressed by Luker Burgis in his book "Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life". Throughout evolution, people have imitated the behaviors of others, believing that, if this has helped them to survive, it should also work for us.

Let's think about prehistoric humans. If a group of our ancestors developed a new hunting or farming technique and it worked for them to combat hunger, it is logical to think that others would want to imitate them. This would cause the advances of a human group to end up expanding to the others, causing humanity to progress together.

At present, the mimetic desire no longer seems to fulfill this role. Far from helping us to acquire something beneficial that others do, this desire to want to have what others have can plunge us into an intense rivalry. It can provoke us an unhealthy envy, wish to have what our idols have and even wish to harm those who have more than we do. Although we try to be more like those who have things that we believe are positive, if we cannot achieve them, we may endeavor to try to make those who have lose it.

And if they are not objects, we end up wanting the sculpted bodies of athletes or the lives of famous people. We want what others have, we want to be like them even in the way of dressing and being. This is also one of the reasons why certain pointless challenges (p. g., eating dish soap) go viral. Mimetic desire motivates all kinds of large-scale social behavior, however stupid it may sound.

It is for this reason that mimetic desire can contain great suffering, especially on a psychological level. Wanting to imitate others without being aware that you cannot be the same and that each one has his strengths and weaknesses, that it will never become exactly like any other, it causes discomfort because all possible efforts are made and they are not obtained results.

Only when we realize that there is no one the same, that each one is the way they are and will have their own successes and failures, will we feel a little more free to allow ourselves to be ourselves. The obsession to be like others will only bring us discomfort and dissatisfaction. Happiness is not found in others, it is found in oneself, who has everything or more than is necessary to achieve it.