Published in Linkedin on July 18th 2023.
Today, I will attempt to address unanswered questions from previous posts…
René Girard discovered that our desires are the desires of others, which he referred to as mimetic desire. Desire, as said, does not push us, -just as the wind as we discussed earlier- it attracts us.
Desire is not a straight line between an object and a subject, nor are there inherently desirable objects, but rather desiring subjects.
Girard argues that desire takes the form of a triangle, with the mediator indicating the object and the subject desiring it.
The mediator can be either internal or external.
The internal mediator is someone beyond our competitive reach, as he may not be in this world (religion, idols, imagination), nor is equal (parents, older siblings in childhood, bosses, authorities, coaches, captains), or is already part of our psyche (superego or id), but still remains “another”.
Desire for the object shared with the external mediator generates competition.
Competition accelerates imitation.
In a regatta, everyone seeks to resemble each other but at the same time tries to differentiate in order to win (paradoxical, isn’t it?).
This inevitably tempts to rivalry.
If it weren’t for the numerous rituals (regulations) and prohibitions in sports and life (law), aggression and violence would be commonplace.
Religion and law are essentially rituals and prohibitions aimed at preventing violence… just like the rules of sports…
Girard discovered that when two individuals compete for the same object, their desire to obtain the object is mimetically fueled by the desire of the other, and this feedback loop intensifies their desire and excitement, eventually leading to a state of paroxysm or madness. Any serious athlete must learn to master this mimetic behavior, particularly when experiencing critical or chaotic situations in competition (which ultimately involve a lack of differentiation).
In ancient civilizations, these rivalries spread rapidly like the plague – they were known as such, without distinguishing them from bacterial diseases – and mimetic battles escalated and spread. If mimetic battles didn´t finally turn into battling a single individual or scapegoat (due to the contagious effect), ancient cultures would have ceased to exist. Thanks to this imbalance, all violence ended with the death or expulsion of one or more scapegoats, which allowed such community to return to temporary peace. All this phenomena is what Girard calls the “mimetic cycle”. In physical sailing terms, we could say that all the forces acting on the sails and hull ultimately result in one force that moves the boat in a single direction.
Therefore, we could say that in culture, society, and sailing, the ultimate course depends on how well we master the art of behaving mimetically, since mimesis cannot be avoided. When ignorant or unaware of the phenomena we would be surprised by the outcome… .
