René Girard's Mimetic Theory & Peter Thiel on Innovation

Lately, I've been fascinated by René Girard's Theory of Mimetic Desire. From my anecdotal observation, the names of Greek and German philosophy-titans (e.g. Socrates, Plato, Kant, Hegel) are always first responses to the question, "name a philosopher," and modern thinkers often come second, that is if they're even known. René Girard is one worth studying.

Rather than explain Mimetic Desire, I think it's better to show it, as it's a decently relatable idea once you get it. Start by thinking of a luxury brand.

Got it? Now, what actually makes the brand appealing? Often function and aesthetics are important factors (how it performs or how it looks). But the largest factor is often one that goes unrealized. This is where Girard comes in - he claimed that we often desire things because others also desire them. In essence, we are mimicking the desires of others, hence the name, "mimetic desire." The large prices that accompany luxury brands often come as the result of the brand's reputation. And what gives the brand a good reputation? It's prices, an indicator of how much people value its products. This reminds me of a social experiment video I watched, in which someone gave away free samples of what he claimed to be "luxury water." Really it was just water from his kitchen sink, but others didn't know better! People commented on it's taste favorably. Girard would likely view these people's response to luxury water as an effect of mimetic desire. The water's cost effectively acts as an representation of how much others value it. He'd say that others think, "Well if others like it, then I'd be an idiot to disagree!"

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Triangle-of-the-mimetic-desire_fig2_331261079

Now, let's get more technical with Girard's theory. Girard proposed a triangle of three participants in this effect of mimetic desire. One, the subject. That could be me, you, or another person. Two, the object. That is what's being desired. Three, the model. This could range from that one friend that's always good at everything to the social media bro who posts pictures of his car. The model encourages you to want something: that friend's skill, the car, whatever. Girard argues that eventually this third element, the model, can be powerful enough to become the primary motivator for desires, effectively eliminating one’s own personal preference and agency in choosing a liking. The concern comes when we stop pursuing authentic desires grounded in rationality and substitute them with these phantom-desires obtained through mimicking others.

Though he is known for technology, Peter Thiel completed his undergraduate degree in philosophy. A large influence for him was Girard, one of his professors. This can be seen in Thiel’s book Zero to One where he describes the need for field-creating innovation rather than the kind that iterates and builds on previous work ("One to N" innovation). This can be viewed as an application of Girard’s mimetic philosophy. Simply mimicking the entrepreneurial trends of others leads to derivative, unoriginal products. It is better to create original works in entrepreneurship than following the conformity of others which inevitably leads to derivative products. It's become evident that the past 50 years of tech innovation have separated into eras defined by their products:

• The personal computer era (1970s)

• The internet era (1995 - 2005)

• The mobile era (2007 - 2015)

• The cloud era (2010 - 2020)

• The AI era (2022 - present)

Each era was brought in by outside of the box thinking resulting in an entirely new product. This style of anti-mimetic innovation will be essential for the future. AI rests as the current dominant field in technology, but for innovators, it is largely an oversaturated field. What's left in AI is going to N. Zero to One already happened. Furthermore, entry-level coding will be permanently changed. The generic pathways of “learn to code” will be less viable in the future. The winners in the future markets will be the ones creating them. While it may have been popular to create apps in 2010, it's not exactly game-changing anymore. Remember what Girard said about mimicking others. Often, it's wiser and more lucrative to create new fields rather than fighting in already contested markets.

So, what can be done - the solution seems to be cultivating an anti-mimesis by learning to think originally and nurturing one’s imagination. The future of innovation is in creation, not iteration.