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Charlie and George get into the rampant and much talked about phenomenon of declining testosterone levels in males. They discuss their personal experiences with health and fitness. Charlie shares from the extensive research and writing he's done on the topic. There's less direct reference to mimetic theory than usual, but we certainly explore the whys and wherefores.

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We finally have a guest! George talks with Charlie Deist on the topics of self-help books and "success culture." The two friends share personal experiences. They discuss the historical and social causes that gave rise to the self-improvement mindset, and they refer to René Girard's theory to critique it. They talk about how obsession with success can damage an individual, and how one could avoid such damage.

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Adversaries locked in violent conflict exchange acts of aggression. With each act, they attempt to end the fight, to have the "last word of violence." Yet, the exchanges only produce symmetry: as they go blow-for-blow, rather than establishing difference, they become more and more alike. This dynamic applies to all pursuits of desire, which are always pursuits of some transcendental difference, but it becomes the most manifest when a pursuit flares up into open conflict, or war. However, the pursuit never ends in transcendence, or "libidinal impregnability." It produces death as it chugs along, and it ends in sacrifice.

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Narcissism is an ever-popular topic. There's a lot of speculation and fascination around it. In this episode, I attempt a mimetic theory breakdown of the phenomenon that simplifies it a great deal. The episode details the various aspects of narcissism and goes over its historical background. It then presents the Girardian idea of narcissism as a failed seduction strategy.

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Humans are animals that desire. Unlike animal instinct, which is fixed on predetermined objects and cannot change, desire is always a desire for a higher being - for transcendence - and is determined for us by our models, or mediators, or idols, whom we believe to possess that higher, transcendental being. However, the truth is that no human being possesses transcendence. Our erroneous belief in its earthly existence causes all kinds of trouble by making us miserable, envious, greedy, etc. 

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The victimary mechanism is foundational to human culture, but it already started with animals. For example, chimpanzees seem to hunt to create in-group cohesion. René Girard argued that the victimary mechanism was the motor of hominization, the process that produced humans from animals. By channeling violence outside the group, the mechanism created safe space inside the group where nurturing, cooperation, and intelligence could flourish. The intelligence in turn enhanced the ability to keep the inside and the outside separate and distinct. The positive feedback loop quickly generated a vast gulf between the new hyper-intelligent species and all other animal forms.

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This longer-than-usual episode first goes over the origins of authority. It challenges conventional Marxist, Darwinian, and Hobbesian theories and their derivatives. It presents René Girard's theory of authority evolving out of the archaic role of the human sacrificial victim. Finally, it applies this insight to the modern era and explores its modern implications.

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George reads his latest blog article / newsletter.

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Test run with George talking to himself off-the-cuff about production of monsters.

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