Summary of Art Of Manliness Podcast Episode: Unveiling the Art of Manliness: Embracing Thick Desires and Political Atheism
Podcast: Art Of Manliness
6 min. read
— Description —
Discover the power of memetic desire and how it influences our desires without us even realizing it Learn how to cultivate enduring and aligned desires while avoiding temporary and easy-to-satisfy ones Unplug from social media and embrace real, offline experiences to nurture thick desires
Follow these tips to regain personal agency and create a fulfilling life.
Unveiling the Art of Manliness: Embracing Thick Desires and Political Atheism
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
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Humans learn by imitation, they also desire by imitation. People around us can influence our desires in positive and negative ways without us even realizing it, this is called memetic desire.
- Case in point: kids will often fight over a single toy and ignore all other toys, and adults often pursue something, only to realize it’s actually not that great once they have it.
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Cultivate thick desires, these require work to build up over time and are more enduring and aligned with our deeper selves. Conversely, beware of thin desires that are temporary and easy to satisfy
- For instance, interacting on social media is easier than planning an in-person gathering, and reading an article is harder than reading a tweet thread.
- If neglected, thick desires will be overtaken by thin ones and form a negative cycle
- Case in point, spend hours hunched on your desk and you will soon prefer it to moving or working out
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Real, offline experiences and connections are essential to cultivating thick desires. This can be challenging in a world that promotes thin desires on social media. Here are some tips to unplug:
- Consider your hierarchy of values and align your media consumption to match it
- Build a network of friends that pursue thick desires (e.g. a book club)
- Embrace leisure, it’s the foundation of culture and growth, even if it seems unproductive
- Maintain a stance of political atheism, especially during politically charged times like the elections
- Immerse yourself in different rhythms of time, such as spending summer in another country, observing the Sabbath, or enjoying a leisurely lunch
- Seek personal agency, the power to define and create choices in your life, compared to just reacting to things.
Intro
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Luke Burgis (@lukeburgis) is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life and the Anti-Mimetic newsletter
- Checkout his website
- Host – (@artofmanliness)
Humans Imitate Desire
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Humans learn cultural things by imitation, such as language or mannerisms. French thinker René Girard argued that the power of imitation goes deeper into the level of desire.
- Memetic desire in a nutshell: Man is a creature who doesn’t know what to want, so he looks to other people to help him decide.
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People around us, especially those important to us, can influence our desires without us even realizing it, they are referred to as “models of desire.”
- Evident from a young age, kids’ choice of toys is influenced by their peers and they will quickly fight over one toy, even if the room is full of toys
- As adults, this is the reason you may want and pursue something, only to realize it’s actually not that great once you have it.
Mitigate the Downsides of Mimetic Desire
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The people you surround yourself with are crucial, as they can influence your desires in both positive and negative ways.
- For instance, mimetic desire can lead you into rivalrous and unfulfilling pursuits, such as chasing careers or goals that don’t align with your true self.
- Conversely, it can inspire you to want things that are positive and align with your deeper values.
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Cultivate thick desires, these are solid, continuous, require work to build up over time, and are more enduring and aligned with our deeper selves.
- On the other hand, beware of thin desires that are temporary and easy to satisfy (e.g. wanting something in a store)
- In a world dominated by thin desires, pursuing thick desires often means swimming against the current. It may be challenging but leads to greater fulfillment.
- An example, interacting on social media is easier than planning an in-person gathering, and reading an article is harder than reading a tweet thread.
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If neglected, thick desires will be overtaken by thin ones and form a negative cycle
- For instance, spend hours hunched on your desk and you will soon prefer it to move and working out
How to Cultivate Thick Desires
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The online world, especially social media, tends to promote thin desires. Real, offline experiences and connections are essential for cultivating thick desires.
- Build a network of friends that pursue thick desires (e.g. a book club)
- Consider your hierarchy of values and align your media consumption to match it
- It’s hard to be patient when all you do is consume TikToks. Remove yourself from the algorithm and do a physical activity (e.g. meditate, pray, go to a bookstore, watch a classic movie)
- Embrace leisure, it might seem unproductive, but it’s the foundation of culture and personal growth, as author Josef Pieper argues in Leisure is the Basis of Culture
- For example, spending time with family and loved ones
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Modern life provides a sense of autonomy through various choices. However, it limits true agency by predefining available options.
- It’s important to seek personal agency, the power to define and create choices in your life, compared to just reacting to things.
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The time in the world is a metronome that is ticking at an increasing rate. You can try to catch up or you can choose to model your life on different forms of time.
- Choose how to engage with worldly events, such as elections or emails
- Immerse yourself in different rhythms of time, such as spending summer in another country, observing the Sabbath, or enjoying a leisurely lunch
- Remember, things that seem useless are often valuable (family time)
Political Atheism
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Political Atheism is a desacralization of worldly politics, in a world where people put their faith in political parties
- In other words, a political atheist is someone who rejects to invest sacred authority in world leaders, political parties, or systems that claim to be saviors.
- In The Red and the Black, French writer Stendhal describes the flimsy opposition between political parties and how the characters change their allegiances easily.
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There is a bull market in politics, with exponential growth in funding for campaigns and policies.
- As a result, American politics is now infused into all aspects of life, including religion, consumption, media, and branding. This increases divisiveness in society.
- Becoming a political atheist allows politics to thrive in a more productive way
- In Overdoing Democracy, Professor Robert Talisse makes the case that infusing politics in all aspects of life actually hurts democracy.
- As a result, American politics is now infused into all aspects of life, including religion, consumption, media, and branding. This increases divisiveness in society.
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Maintain a stance of political atheism, especially during politically charged times like the elections
- Remember, every election is often portrayed as apocalyptic, regulate your media consumption, and don’t get caught up in every debate or news cycle.
- Cultivate relationships with people of diverse political views, this will allow you to appreciate the complexity of human opinions and to see through the untruths in politics