Why do we want the things we want (and why they tend to be things other people have)

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I recently attended my college reunion—in Las Vegas of all places—and the whole experience is just begging for a bit of reflection. Reunions are admittedly an odd topic to write about, but I figured everyone can use a break from my Web3 soapbox and read something a little more introspective.

Reunions force you to revisit your past and not only do they promote reflection, but they can also come with enough awkwardness to prompt a thorough examination of your psychological quirks.

We’ll start this reflection by talking about a great book I read about a month ago: Wanting by Luke Burgis.

We'll start there with a hopefully interesting overview of this 20th-century philosophy called Mimetic Desire. Using that theory as our lens, I'll then painstakingly try to answer some deeply personal questions like: "Why do I compare myself to others ?" and "Where do I go now that I’ve realized these things about myself?"

This won’t be a diagnosis of every Type-A person’s psyche—just my own. It’s not a prescription on how to live your life nor what it means to be “happy”. It’s just simply me writing to figure out who I am, what I believe, and what I want to do moving forward.