Mimetic Theory

Mimetic theory is a body of ideas developed by the French thinker René Girard from the 1960s onwards, which holds that human desire is largely imitative: people want things because they see others wanting them. Girard argued that such "mimetic desire" turns neighbours into rivals for the same objects and that societies have historically released the resulting tension by uniting against a scapegoat. The theory reached business and finance partly through the investor Peter Thiel, a former student of Girard, who has cited it in explaining competition and start-up strategy. In markets it offers a lens on herd behaviour and fear of missing out, where people buy an asset because others are buying, helping to inflate a bubble. Commentators apply it to crypto hype cycles and the meme economy. It is a philosophical framework, not a tested model, though it overlaps with findings in behavioral finance.