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Mimetic theory takes on everything.
60 Episodes
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Send us a text Continuing on the previous episode with the review of Stephen C. Meyer's book Return of God Hypothesis. This one goes over the impossible odds of assembling proteins or DNA to either begin or evolve life. Then, it goes over the digital or symbolic nature of information that encodes life and explains why natural laws in their ontological essence cannot produce such information. We distinguish orderliness of the type produced by natural laws with that produced by functional desig...
Send us a text A reading of my essay with the same title that reviews Stephen C Meyer's book Return of God Hypothesis. I go over the arguments of the book that debunk the materialist narrative around the Big Bang, or the beginning of the universe: 1) what's called the Fine Tuning Problem, with the the mathematical and physical impossibilities it exposes, and 2) the metaphysical absurdities that arise from the inability of science to establish the "ground of being." 3) I touch on the counterar...
Send us a text Modernity with its humanism and secularism rose out of Christian culture but seems to be at odds with it. I explain this paradox in accordance with René Girard's anthropology: how the recession of the violent sacred wrought by Christianity over the centuries created the cultural space that distances itself from all sacred and thus becomes transferrable to the whole world, producing modernity and globalisation. Support the show
Send us a text "You cannot be a human without a transcendental vision. The here and now is not enough; there must be something wholly above it, not just something higher and better, but something absolute and eternal. This something is transcendence. It anchors human life in meaning and purpose." René Girard showed how Western literature over the centuries traces a descent of transcendence from heavenly and distant visions down closer to earth, where our idols become other people and we becom...
Send us a text How and why I got into researching Amazonian spirituality. Modern interest in shamanism and the reality of shamanism among Amazonian tribes. Sorcery and witchcraft and recorded cases of scapegoating among the Amazonians. The imperative of conviviality and consequences of breaking it. Inner peace and its flip side: outer violence. Support the show
Send us a text Here finally is a true and powerful traditionalist response to both feminist accusations and the cheap bragging of low-IQ wife-beaters. Why and how are men "born to rule"? The answer is clear once we recover the once-obvious link between authority, violence, and sacrifice. The gory origins of authority in blood sacrifice, archaic, ancient, and modern. The biological expandability of male versus female bodies. Male competition and female competition (if such a thing even exists)...
Send us a text Parks Gore and I discuss Terence McKenna's Stoned Ape Theory. McKenna argued that human evolution was driven by hominid consumption of psychedelic mushrooms. We explain his theory and argue against it in light of René Girard's work. Girard believed that in-group violence was the unprecedented problem whose solution through violent sacrificial ritual and religion provided the leap from animal to human. We then talk about psychedelics and spirituality, both in ancient or indigeno...
Send us a text Autism is a rare but real disorder, but the recent rise in claims of being "on the spectrum" is a massive fad, a mimetic contagion. The spectrum is glamourised by popular entertainment and embraced by celebrities. With reference to René Girard's work, I analyse why people might want to signal autism (rather than "mask" it). It has to do with many notions that hit a raw nerve in our culture: narcissism, victimhood, innocence, ambition, mediocrity, genius. I also address the gend...
Send us a text What is the link between comedy and tragedy? Why do both laughing and crying involve tears? How is comedy related to tickling? Why do we laugh more in modern times? These and many other questions answered in a philosophical discussion based on René Girard's essay on the topic, "Perilous Balance: A Comic Hypothesis." Support the show
Send us a text We start where we left off in Part 1: Dostoevsky the romantic wakes up and realizes he lives in the underground, filled with resentment, frustrated ambition, and tormenting idols. The underground man struggles to break free in the character of Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment and the teacher in The Gambler. We then encounter formidable idols that attract and foment underground passions all around them: Prince Myshkin in The Idiot and Nikolai Stavrogin in The Possessed. Do...
Send us a text A review of the life and works of the great Fyodor Dostoevsky following René Girard's book Dostoevsky: Resurrection from the Underground. A masterpiece of literary criticism in its own right, this book brings edifying and brilliant insights into Dostoevsky's own masterpieces, but only by connecting them to the novelist's lesser works and personal life. Girard traces a coherent arch in Dostoevsky's life and works, from a frustrated naive romantic trying to fit into the literary...
Send us a text René Girard's mysterious quote on masochist reasoning being a model of scientific induction. Connecting masochistic conclusions about the nature of the universe to that of the scientist. What logical genius may have in common with masochism – the idiot-savant stereotype. Why modern materialistic and atheistic ideologies tend to turn sadomasochistic. Support the show
Send us a text The Devil is trending. Talk of demons can be heard from Tucker Carlson, theorists on UFOs and AI, right-wing podcasters interviewing exorcists, and the Psychedelic Renaissance aficionados. So I go over what I recently wrote about the devil on my blog: Girard's anthropological interpretation of the Devil as the force behind seduction, conflict, and accusation; the victimary mechanism as the Satanic mechanism, depicted in the story of the Gerasene Demoniac and the parable of Sata...
Send us a text Gregory Bateson's double bind as the cause of schizophreniaRené Girard on the double bind as a universal human experienceGirard's notion of the haunting double as the source of the double bind and central cause and symptom of schizophreniaSupport the show
Send us a text Last episode for the summer. Shakespeare snobbery. Two audiences of Shakespeare: the mob and the initiates. Two layers in Othello and Hamlet: romanticism and mimesis. Othello: thirst for the exotic and the death wish. Hamlet: disillusionment with the violent sacred. Shakespeare the man: relationship trauma and dramatic genius. Support the show
Send us a text René Girard wrote a book of literary criticism of Shakespeare titled "Theatre of Envy: William Shakespeare." The book makes centuries of Shakespeare critics look like fools while confirming the bard himself as a monumental literary figure. This podcast summarises some of the big points of Girard's analysis of Shakespeare. Shakespeare dramatised and reflected on what Girard calls the mimetic nature of desire ("love through others' eyes"), using it as a key plot device in many o...
Send us a text Christ's admonitions to turn the other cheek, love thy enemy, etc., from the Sermon on the Mount unsettle many brave Christians. We interpret these admonitions conclusively with the help of René Girard's mimetic exegesis. Take courage soldier! – Jesus does not advocate cowardice or resignation. We also reference C.S. Lewis, and discuss how "love thy enemy" links to Sun Tzu's precepts in The Art of War. Support the show
Send us a text Mexico: A Girardian analysis of Mel Gibson's movie ApocalyptoChina: Girardian notes on Terracotta Warriors and pandasRome: The Gladiator movie; the origin of gladiatorial gamesGreece: The origin of the ancient Olympic GamesSupport the show
Send us a text L'appel du vide -- the call of the void; or as Nietzsche says, "If you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back at you" A mimetic theory interpretation of the call of the void: inflamed (rather than mortified) desire leads to sadomasochism, leads to an urge to dash ourselves before the terrible and awesome model-obstacleCall of the void in romantic pursuit and povertyCall of the void leading to political and ethnic self-harmSupport the show
Send us a text René Girard's understanding of the symbiosis of imitation and innovation.In traditional societies, imitation was encouraged, innovation was discouraged; in modern society, it is the opposite; why?Imitation and innovation game in science, the arts, business, and geopoliticsBad imitation: resentment of the rival and cargo cultsSupport the show
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