⭐⭐⭐ Wanting by Burgis
| Full Title | Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life |
|---|---|
| Authors | Luke Burgis |
| Year Published | 2021 |
| Date Read | February 22, 2022 |
| Rating | 3/5 stars |
Not a bad read. There were some new angles on mimesis that I hadn’t before considered, though nothing too groundbreaking. Some of the examples given felt to me a little forced, but in general I appreciated their inclusion as I think they did an effective job of making the ideas a bit more concrete. In particular, the creation of female mimetic desire for smoking by Eddie Bernays was wild (this is in the very first chapter of the book; some details are also on Wikipedia). I also enjoyed the author providing ideas of “tactics” one might use to specifically counteract mimesis.
I’d recommend this to folks interested in the general hedonic adaptation space, in particular those with ties to Silicon Valley (the author’s background, which pops up here and there).