In Episode 194 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Lukis Burgis, founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures and author of "Wanting," a book about the power of mimetic desire and how it impacts our behavior in markets, politics, and culture.

The goal of this conversation is to help you understand what mimetic desire is and how it operates in your own life and in society at large, whether that be in financial markets, politics, or the broader economy. In practical terms, this means understanding the forces that shape how we come to want the things that we desire, from fancy degrees to high-flying stocks, to political ideologies, so that we can learn how to extract ourselves from the systems of wanting that leave us exhausted.

Mimetic desire is not something we can eliminate, conquer, or transcend. It's a power, like gravity, that we have to find a way to live with—and thrive in. This episode reveals how we can tune into our mimetic desires to counteract their destructive forces and learn to desire differently.

In the overtime, Luke and Demetri discuss the mimetic consequences of social media, and how the hyperconnectivity of modern life has fundamentally altered our perception of reality with dramatic implications for our political and economic systems.

You can access the episode overtime, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week's episode through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.

If you enjoyed listening to today's episode of Hidden Forces you can help support the show by doing the following:

Write us a review on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe to our mailing list through the Hidden Forces Website

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

Subscribe & Support the Podcast at https://patreon.com/hiddenforces

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod

Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas

Episode Recorded on 05/26/2021

Skift Daily Briefing, 1/14/2021