I laughed out loud several times reading this. It’s so funny how ridiculous we can be! Elizabeth Oldfield uses the analogy of what a liturgy does, that it continually redirects our desires, to explain the kind of world we are living in. So I think you are right that we need to replace the unavoidable liturgies of enticement and distraction with new ones. Gratitude is certainly a good starting place.
Beautifully done. Thank you. I tend to start my day with Substack b/c if I get onto Pinterest or Amazon, I’m into that rabbit hole of Wanting Stuff I Don’t Need. I try to start my day with a Bible reading & some reflection & prayers. Works much better.
I've been attempting to talk to my 10yo about mimetic desires (cause she has it bad). And in thinking about it, I wonder why everything and everyone we see doesn't elicit this response in us. Maybe it does for some, but I was thinking about why we aren't just lambasted with uncontrolled mimetic overload. We desire some things but detest other things. All of this is in an attempt to rid myself of doing things that others desire, but I don't think it's entirely possible. Probably the only things that we (exclusively) desire that are not mimetic have to do with our own bodily functions and even then we fulfil them in mimetic ways with food we are used to, and styles of toilets concurrent with our culture and beds that conform to our cultures standards. Mimesis continues to amaze and terrify me.
That’s such an interesting question! I read a paper for my status psychology project that said that our desire for status (which is very correlated with mimesis - though there are definitely some differences) that found that our desire for status or recognition or possessions can take on a “vertical” or “horizontal” direction. If it’s vertical, this is when we desire to have more than someone else. If it’s horizontal, that means we’re satisfied with having a similar amount as someone else because, for whatever reason, we tend to care less about the recognition concerning those specific objects in that specific realm. It’s almost like the difference between desiring “rank” and desiring to be “liked” or “fit in.”
I laughed out loud several times reading this. It’s so funny how ridiculous we can be! Elizabeth Oldfield uses the analogy of what a liturgy does, that it continually redirects our desires, to explain the kind of world we are living in. So I think you are right that we need to replace the unavoidable liturgies of enticement and distraction with new ones. Gratitude is certainly a good starting place.
Great point!!
Beautifully done. Thank you. I tend to start my day with Substack b/c if I get onto Pinterest or Amazon, I’m into that rabbit hole of Wanting Stuff I Don’t Need. I try to start my day with a Bible reading & some reflection & prayers. Works much better.
Shaking off the golden handcuffs to do something more useful and satisfying forced me through a bunch of these steps. Still declutterring :-D.
It’s great to entirely dump the Amazon app. That monopoly is too controlling.
I've been attempting to talk to my 10yo about mimetic desires (cause she has it bad). And in thinking about it, I wonder why everything and everyone we see doesn't elicit this response in us. Maybe it does for some, but I was thinking about why we aren't just lambasted with uncontrolled mimetic overload. We desire some things but detest other things. All of this is in an attempt to rid myself of doing things that others desire, but I don't think it's entirely possible. Probably the only things that we (exclusively) desire that are not mimetic have to do with our own bodily functions and even then we fulfil them in mimetic ways with food we are used to, and styles of toilets concurrent with our culture and beds that conform to our cultures standards. Mimesis continues to amaze and terrify me.
That’s such an interesting question! I read a paper for my status psychology project that said that our desire for status (which is very correlated with mimesis - though there are definitely some differences) that found that our desire for status or recognition or possessions can take on a “vertical” or “horizontal” direction. If it’s vertical, this is when we desire to have more than someone else. If it’s horizontal, that means we’re satisfied with having a similar amount as someone else because, for whatever reason, we tend to care less about the recognition concerning those specific objects in that specific realm. It’s almost like the difference between desiring “rank” and desiring to be “liked” or “fit in.”
this resonated so much, thank you for putting it out in the world!
Got to share this! So helpful.
Well crafted in content and format! Might have to save this for rereading from time to time.
Glad you liked it :)
Griffin, love this so much, man! My wife has really challenged us in this area, and I’m so grateful for it.
Love that the data supports the Biblical challenge to live simply :)
Have you read much of Comer’s Practicing the Way? I’ve heard he speaks on simplicity, but I haven’t read the book or gone through the course myself!
I have!! The simplicity section was really brief though! He did a more full series on it at Bridgetown back in 2020 though that was really beautiful.
BRO! This is a heavy-hitting article. Love reading your stuff, Griffin.
Thanks so much!! And thank you for the Marcuse quote - that’s basically the central idea I built the rest of the article around!