Girard's Major Blindspot | Limitations of Mimetic Theory

Summary

Johnathan Bi delves into the intriguing aspects and inherent limitations of René Gerard's mimetic theory. While acknowledging Gerard's brilliance in addressing the irrational and 'spirited' components of human nature, Bi argues that significant blind spots exist, especially concerning reason and appetite. Through examples like asset classes and celebrity culture, Bi illustrates contexts where Gerardian analysis is apt or misapplied. He contends that mimetic theory heavily focuses on the pathological aspects of social drives, providing keen insight into when and where Gerard's ideas hold relevance, but also where they fall short. Ultimately, Bi posits that Gerard's philosophy, though revealing about human irrationality, requires additional resources for a wholesome understanding of spirit beyond its darker manifestations.

Highlights

• Mimetic theory is mostly focused on human irrationality and the 'spirited' part of the soul 🎭.
• Gerard's analysis is strong in revealing contrarian insights by demonstrating how humans are not rational 🧠.
• Applications of Gerardian analysis vary greatly, with asset classes and celebrity culture being prime examples 💼.
• Bi suggests a theoretical framework to identify when Gerardian analysis is applicable and when it's not 🕵️‍♂️.
• The theory shines a light on irrational behaviors like jealousy and social mimicry 🙈.
• Gerard focuses on the pathological aspects of spirit, leaving room for additional theories for a balanced view 💭.

Key Takeaways

• Mimetic theory excels at revealing human irrationality, focusing on our 'spirited' drives 💡.
• Gerard's blind spots include reason and appetite, crucial elements of human psychology 🍽️.
• The applicability of mimetic theory varies across domains like asset classes and celebrity culture 🌟.
• The world is becoming more Gerardian due to connectivity and satiation of basic appetites 🌍.
• Gerard primarily explores the pathological side of human drives, linking to original sin 💀.
• A holistic understanding of the 'spirit' may require theories outside of Gerard's mimetic focus 🌟.

Overview

Johnathan Bi unpacks René Gerard's mimetic theory, revealing its strengths in dissecting the 'spirited' aspects of human nature while identifying notable limitations. Bi is candid about how Gerard's analysis thrives in domains prone to social mimicry, like crypto markets and celebrity culture, where irrational behaviors are rampant. Yet, he emphasizes that it falters when applied to realms governed by reason and basic appetites, outlining a framework for appropriate application of Gerardian insights.

Through vivid examples, Bi argues that Gerard's philosophy predominantly interrogates the irrational and pathological manifestations of our social drives. While Gerard successfully challenges conventional views of humans as rational utility maximizers, his theory skews heavily towards understanding the darker sides of 'spirit'. Bi acknowledges this focus as both illuminating and limited, highlighting Gerard as more of a 'pathologist of spirit' rather than a builder of a nuanced psychological model.

In drawing conclusions, Bi posits that while Gerard offers a compelling view into the irrationality driving human behavior, his philosophical scope is constrained to examining dysfunctions rather than offering constructive pathways to psychological well-being. To enrich our understanding of spirit, Bi suggests complementing Gerard's insights with other theoretical perspectives that illuminate the nourishing aspects of the human psyche. This positions Gerard as a valuable, yet incomplete guide in understanding human nature's intricate tapestry.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction to Girard's Blind Spots The chapter introduces the topic of Rene Girard's mimetic theory, with a focus on discussing the limitations and blind spots within his philosophy. The speaker expresses a strong appreciation for Girard's ideas but emphasizes the importance of recognizing where they might not be applicable. The speaker acknowledges the intuitive sense that certain areas or topics align more closely with Girard's theories, suggesting that the crypto domain is an example of a 'more Girardian' subject.
• 01:30 - 03:30: Plato's Tripartite Soul and Mimetic Theory The chapter delves into the impact of Gerardian philosophy, particularly Gerard's mimetic theory, on various aspects of society including the stock market and celebrity culture. It draws a contrast between speculative stocks and value stocks in terms of their alignment with Gerardian ideas. Similarly, it examines different industries such as entertainment and consulting through the lens of mimetic theory, suggesting a hierarchy in their proximity to Gerardian principles. The chapter aims to provide a theoretical framework to better understand and identify the influence of these principles in everyday contexts.
• 03:30 - 05:00: Gerard's Focus on Spirit This chapter explores the appropriate contexts and limitations of applying Gerardian analysis, a perspective developed based on mimetic theory. The discussion highlights where this analytical lens is effective and where it might fall short, starting with a comparison to Plato's philosophies to uncover potential blind spots in Gerard's understanding of human nature.
• 05:00 - 08:00: Application of Gerardian Analysis to Asset Classes The chapter discusses the application of Gerardian analysis to different asset classes. It begins by referencing Plato's more comprehensive understanding of the human soul, which is divided into three parts. These parts include appetite, which is shared with animals and encompasses desires such as sex, pleasure, food, shelter, and sleep. Although Gerard's analysis doesn't focus much on appetite, this aspect is mentioned to provide a foundation for understanding subsequent analysis.
• 08:00 - 10:00: Application of Gerardian Analysis to Occupations The chapter delves into the application of Gerardian analysis in different professions. It suggests that a psychologist could focus on addiction, examining the influence of pleasure and chemistry on this condition. On the other hand, the analysis of reason is linked to philosophers such as Kant and Rousseau, who explore practical and theoretical reason as well as its function in the social world.
• 10:00 - 13:00: The Increasing Gerardian Nature of the World The chapter discusses Gerard's primary focus on the concept of 'spirit' in the Platonic soul. It highlights that while Gerard does not extensively discuss or develop a robust theoretical framework on how reason works, he offers intriguing insights into the failures of reason. The core of Gerard's exploration revolves around 'spirit,' which represents our social drives, particularly the desire for honor and prestige. This is a central theme in understanding Gerard's philosophical perspective.
• 13:00 - 16:00: Limitations of Girard's Focus on Pathologies The chapter delves into the limitations of mimetic theory, particularly highlighting its focus on pathologies and neglect of other aspects like reason and appetite. René Girard's emphasis on the spirited part of the soul categorizes him as either a psychologist or philosopher of spirit. This unique focus contributes to Girard's fascinating ability to unearth contrarian insights.
• 16:00 - 17:00: Conclusion and Summary of Mimetic Theory Limitations The chapter discusses the limitations of the mimetic theory, contrasting the standard modern view of human nature, which sees individuals as rational utility maximizers (homo economicus), with Gerard's insights. It highlights that Gerard demonstrates how human behavior is not purely rational or driven by mere utility calculations, offering a more nuanced understanding of human actions and motivations.

Girard's Major Blindspot | Limitations of Mimetic Theory Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 You're not going to find someone who's uh as enthusiastic about Gerard and the explanatory power of uh mimemetic theory as I am, but there are major blind spots uh to his philosophy. And that's what I want to talk about today because I can't help but cringe whenever I see someone try to apply Gerardian analysis or Gerardian insights where they don't belong. And I think we all have this kind of intuition that certain domains are just more Gerardian than others, right? Crypto seems a lot more Gerardian
• 00:30 - 01:00 than speculative stocks, growth stocks, which seems a lot more Gerardian than value stocks, which seems a lot more Gerardian than let's say buying tea bills. Uh another example, celebrity culture, entertainment seems a lot more gerardian than uh say consulting which seems a lot more gerardian still than athletics. So today what I want to do is I want to provide you with a theoretical framework to know when and even more
• 01:00 - 01:30 importantly when not to apply Gerardian analysis. In other words, what kind of domains and ventures um are more or less Gerardian and what aspects of our lives um should we take a Gardian lens to? And perhaps I I'll start with Plato because in order to tease out what the blind spots of a mimemetic theory are, I think we need to understand how Gerard's understanding of human nature is limited
• 01:30 - 02:00 or at least circumscribed. So Plato had a much more complete version of the human soul of human psychology and Plato's uh tripartite soul famously has three elements. There's appetite, right? Appetite is what we share with animals. It's the desire for sex, pleasure, for food, shelter, to sleep. Um and you know, Gerard does not spend too much time investigating appetite, right? And
• 02:00 - 02:30 you could, right? You could be uh a psychologist who investigates how addiction happens, right? That is purely driven off off of uh pleasures and chemistry. The second part of the Platonic soul is reason. And uh a philosopher who spends a lot of time investigating this part would be someone like Kant, right? Practical reason, theoretical reason or someone like Rouso who investigates how um reason functions uh in the social world. This is also not
• 02:30 - 03:00 Gerard's primary interest. He doesn't spend a lot of time. He doesn't spill a lot of ink. He doesn't have a really robust theoretical framework to explain how reason works. Now, he has a very interesting theory of how reason fails to work, which we'll get to. Um, but the third part of the Platonic soul is what Gerard really focuses on, and uh it's called spirit. Spirit is our social drives. It's the desire for honor, for prestige. And this is what Gerard really
• 03:00 - 03:30 focuses on. And basically the blind spot of mimemetic theory are the other two parts about how reason and appetite functions. And Gerard's heavy heavy emphasis is on the spirited part of the soul. So we might call him uh a psychologist of spirit, right? Or a philosopher of spirit. Now this delineation I think also explains why Gerard is so interesting because he's able to unearth contrarian
• 03:30 - 04:00 insights by showing us how we are not rational utility calculating machines. The standard view at least in modernity of human nature is of homoeconomicists, right? That we are all these uh utility maximizing creatures and and that's really just taking a rational and a pettitive picture of human nature. Now what Gerard comes in and shows and and this is why again Gerard has so many contrarian insights is he shows all the ways in which we are not rational
• 04:00 - 04:30 creatures. How for example um we get jealous when our friends do well even though it may benefit us about how uh let's say when someone rejects us we like them more but if we're rational utility maximizing creatures surely we would uh be interested in them less because there's like less likelihood of them accepting us. uh and and of course this spirited drive also is able to explain all the most puzzling parts of
• 04:30 - 05:00 other cultures whether it's uh you know kamicazi pilots child sacrifice so again this is not a critique of Gerard this is in some way an explanation of why he's so interesting Gerard I think gives us a logic of how humans are irrational are illogical he's able to give us a logic of the illogical aspects of human nature because he's spent so much time focusing on this third part of of the soul, right? Spirit, the our unintuitive
• 05:00 - 05:30 social drives. And that's why he's valuable. So, now that we have an understanding of how of where I think Gerard has put his emphasis and where his respective blind spots are, I think we can develop a framework of what kinds of domains are more suitable to Gerardian analysis and which aren't. And so I'll use the the the example I started this this video with which is asset classes. Okay. In so far as an
• 05:30 - 06:00 asset class is able to be rationally analyzed that its value is calculated through reason then um it it is less subject to Gerardian forces. Okay. So crypto okay you know what let's start on the other other end. uh treasury bills extremely safe, right? Well, less and less so, but most of the value is rationally calculated through uh projected future
• 06:00 - 06:30 cash flows which are very very steady, right? And it's not as you know, treasury bills don't swing nearly as much as these other asset classes. Real estate or at least safe real estate is kind of like this. in stocks. Growth stocks most most of their value uh at least compared to value stocks are uh because of the future expectations of growth which is not as uh uh easy to be calculated through reason and therefore is subject to a lot
• 06:30 - 07:00 more market bubbles, market hype uh the mimetic forces and crypto is the extreme end of this. Anyone who has tried to use a like a discounted cash flow model to valuate cryptocurrencies and crypto projects has lost has probably lost all their money. All of uh my friends who have done extremely well simply treat crypto as a mimemetic casino. This thing is inherently worth worthless. I'm
• 07:00 - 07:30 simply going to try to predict what other people are going to get into. So it becomes a purely mimemetic phenomena. Right? So, so you see how um with this understanding of what Gerard's emphasis and and blind spots are on human nature, you can see what kind of domains or what kind of subdomains in this example of asset classes are more and less uh uh Gerardian, right? A Gardian analysis would be more or less revoly. Uh I I'll
• 07:30 - 08:00 give another example uh which is the the other example I started this this video with. uh different occupations, celebrity culture. I mean, what celebrity is is, you know, being famous for being famous. Okay? And there's no clearer way to to express a Gerardian domain, a mimedic domain than that statement. Famous for being famous. This idea of a kind of infinite reflexivity that builds upon this, builds upon itself. That is the domain of spirit. Uh
• 08:00 - 08:30 consulting, right? Think about something like McKenzie, BCG. It's less mimemetic. Uh there are actual deliverables you need to hand out, but it's pretty darn mimemetic, right? When when a lot of people hire these firms, especially the bigname brands, they don't actually want uh the decisions that these consultants come up with or the insights. They want a respectable and prestigious name to justify another potentially
• 08:30 - 09:00 unjustifiable decision. for example, firing a great part of their workforce, right? That's the canonical example. And so there consulting appears to be something uh that has concrete deliverables that's very rational based on a rational expectation of the insight and and uh services you're going to provide me. But a great deal of it is still driven by uh uh the prestige of the firm which legitim legitimates otherwise hard to justify decisions. Right? So there's a still a great deal
• 09:00 - 09:30 of mimisis that reflexive idea uh in play. not not as much as celebrity culture but more so uh you know athletics is probably one of the domains least subject um to these mimetic forces because it's simply like how well can you perform you know and uh for example in Formula 1 which I'm a big big big fan of uh the saying is always you're only as good as your last race right Lewis
• 09:30 - 10:00 Hamilton seventime world champion right now is not doing so at Ferrari, people are less hyped about him, right, than otherwise because athletics is about putting uh it's just about the results. Now, of course, there are mimemetic forces uh in athletics as well, there's prestige and lag, but my point is relatively compared to celebrity culture at least um it it is much less driven by those Gerardian forces, right? Because
• 10:00 - 10:30 again there's a concrete object like objective measurable kind of result here that you can uh that that can be falsified that can be uh measured that can be directly compared in a way that celebrity culture you know really uh really can't be. Okay. So hopefully you have a good understanding of how to tell which domains now or which subdomains are Gerardian or not as sub susceptible
• 10:30 - 11:00 to Gardian forces. Um I will make a more general point which is that the world itself I think is becoming a lot more Gerardian. Part of the reason is because a a great deal of human appetite is being satisfied. This is definitely true for the developed uh developed nations. I think for many of the developing nations, this is also becoming more and more true that at the end of the day
• 11:00 - 11:30 less and less human decisions are made on the necessities of survival, of satisfying our appetite and what appear to be appetite, fine dining, right? I'm I'm having good food is actually driven off by spirit. Um another reason that I think that uh the world is becoming more gerardian. Another way to say this is that the logic of the world is being driven more by spirit and less by reason and appetite uh is because of inter
• 11:30 - 12:00 interconnectivity. Uh you know back in the the good old days maybe a surf in this village won't even know how his own lord lives. But today uh you know a peasant from one part of the world is able to see how a billionaire from another part of the world lives and because of that enhanced connectivity um right this is why uh you know Facebook's uh mission of connecting the world for the gerardian is something quite terrifying because of that enhanced
• 12:00 - 12:30 connectivity spirit becomes inflamed. So the second point I'm making is that yes there are certain domains that are more or less gerardian but the world itself given the ability to satisfy our appetites uh and given the enhanced connectivity of the world is becoming more Gerardian itself. Okay. Um, I'm going to make one last point about the blind spots of Gerard and and where not to apply his theory, I suppose. Uh,
• 12:30 - 13:00 is even within the realm of spirit, I think Gerard's insights are profound but quite limited and circumscribed. In fact, um, I described Gerard initially as a philosopher of spirit, psychologist of spirit. I think it's probably more accurate to describe him as a pathologist of spirit. In other words, Gerard is really only capable and interested in
• 13:00 - 13:30 understanding the pathological manifestations of our social drives. And the reason for this is because the central drive he uses to explain basically everything mimemetic desire or if you want to be more technical metaphysical desire stems from a lack of being. Now I I'll link my my my second lecture on on on psychology if you want to understand more here. But this is basically a drive that can never be fulfilled. It's a drive to uh exist in
• 13:30 - 14:00 great measure to to become greater than we currently are. And Gerard thinks that this is a u infinite drive that is fundamentally deceitful because what it aims at giving us a wholeness of being a self-sufficiency is not available to be fulfilled. Now, because of this, because Gerard thinks that humans in some sense are motivated by this dark, I mean, he he he he's a he's a Catholic, of course, and he connects us with original sin, but
• 14:00 - 14:30 because he fundamentally problematizes this core uh desire at the at the heart of human nature, Gerard really only analyzes phenomenon as pathologies. Okay? So innovation culture, innovation culture for Gerard in some sense is a pathology. I have an essay about that called one to end Gerard's philosophy of innovation. Um and so this is why Gerard focuses so much on investigating pathological behavior, whether that's
• 14:30 - 15:00 masochism, sadism, uh whether that's scapegoating or like collective pathologies. Um, and I think that Gerard is only uh excellent at understanding how things go really really wrong. And and he's right. Right. He's right about how how humans and human society goes wrong. But if you want to understand how to nourish the soul, even just the spirited part of the soul, um I think you need to look
• 15:00 - 15:30 outside of Gerard for different other resources. Um uh a as an undergrad I studied with a group of theorists uh who I called recognition theory I suppose you can you can call them that and this is the positive side I think to Gerard's pathological diagnostic uh diagnostic and so the the metaphor I'll leave you I'll leave you with one last metaphor for Gerard is he was my uh he was my Virgil right he's a Virgil to my Dante uh in the
• 15:30 - 16:00 sense that he is able to guide me in understanding the most perverse aspects of human nature. Um right this is inferno and even helping me in purging it's more milder sort of manifestations or this is purgatory but ultimately like Virgil Gerard cannot I think lead us to a positive prescription right and this is why at least my reading Gerard's final book battling to the end is very retreat is very withdrawn right it's
• 16:00 - 16:30 just like there's nothing we can do about it just just try to save yourself leave society um yeah I hope this was helpful for you I Hopefully you have a better understanding now of where I think the limitations of mime theory are. Um, and to to to briefly summarize, it's that Gerard is mostly focused on spirit rather than reason and appetite and their mechanisms. Um, and even within spirit, Gerard is mostly interested in the pathological
• 16:30 - 17:00 manifestations of spirit because of the central drive that he uses to explain human nature with. Thank you. again.