Mimesis Is Just a Fancy Word for Imitation

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Mimesis is just a fancy word for imitation. And we're talking about people who imitate those around them. Some of it is because they want to be loved. That's the sort of Smithian, the dark side of the Smithian vision. But I think your arch view is simply that that's the way we're made. We're drawn to these people who have this elevated level of being or a strong powerful identity.

When the 20-year-old overachiever Johnathan Bi's first startup crashed and burned, he headed to a Zen retreat in the Catskills to "debug himself." He discovered René Girard and his mimetic theory--the idea that imitation is a key and often unconscious driver of human behavior. Listen as entrepreneur and philosopher Bi shares with EconTalk host Russ Roberts what he learned from Girard and Girard's insights into how we meet our primal need for money, fame, and power. The conversation includes the contrasts between economics and Girard's perspective.