PinnedMember-onlyHow Social Media Has Made Us All RivalsIt’s a Chamber of Desire from which there is no escape — In the isolation of the pandemic, our need for social media has been especially acute. It helps us to make sense of who we are. We didn’t know what to desire. So we turned to other people, on our phones, to tell us: Watch Tiger King, drink negronis, adopt dogs…Social Media8 min readSocial Media8 min read
Nov 12Member-onlyHow Businesses and Consumers Navigate the Four Levels of HappinessA new framework for thinking about markets and the satisfaction (and generation) of desire — This is a previously unpublished excerpt of a lecture that I gave at Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business, November 8, 2022. I’d like to present one framework for thinking about desires, both thick and thin, in relation to happiness — and hopefully begin to map René Girard’s ideas about…Business10 min readBusiness10 min read
Nov 1Member-onlyThe World is Filled with Accusers—But We Can All Become AdvocatesThe difference between Advocates and Accusers has ancient, biblical roots. It has to do with two very different ways of relating to one another. One leads to death; the other to life. — I have great respect for the legal profession. The best of it, anyway. One of my dear friends is a trial attorney who, for as long as I’ve known him, has had a very sacred view of his work. Shortly after we met, during my time living in Vegas, he…Theology3 min readTheology3 min read
Oct 8Member-onlyYour Personal Occam’s RazorHow to rescue yourself and the people you love from the confusion and indistinction of faceless crowds. — “The true inner self must be drawn up like a jewel from the bottom of the sea, rescued from confusion, from indistinction, from immersion in the common, the nondescript, the trivial, the sordid, the evanescent.” — Thomas Merton One of the best parts about gaining a clearer sense of your…Philosophy4 min readPhilosophy4 min read
Sep 7Member-onlyImitatio MachinaThe machine cannot be our mirror. — The essay below, Imitatio Machina, is being re-published with permission. It originally appeared at Return.Life. I spent nearly five years seriously discerning a religious vocation, several of them in Italy. One year I went on a retreat at a monastery in Umbria, where I got to know the abbot during…Philosophy8 min readPhilosophy8 min read
Aug 28Member-onlyThe Three City Problem and the New FremenWhat does Athens have to do with Jerusalem — and what do either have to do with Silicon Valley? — I’ve just written this essay for the Ideas section of WIRED Magazine titled: “THE THREE CITY PROBLEM OF MODERN LIFE: What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem — and what do either have to do with Silicon Valley?” It is about my belief that the world is clustering into at least three different groups, each one with its own epistemic and metaphysical presuppositions. …Movies5 min readMovies5 min read
Aug 22Member-onlyOur Desires Are Not Who We AreOn human desire, external authority, an the anti-mimetic act of obedience — Our desires are not our identity. Believing that they are — believing that if we desire something that it is therefore “who we are” — is a sickness of modernity that I believe stems from a false notion of freedom. I have wanted many things in my life that I…Philosophy10 min readPhilosophy10 min read
Aug 12Member-onlyWhy Intellectual Humility Is Essential to Living a Good LifeFrom Socrates to the Present Day, Those Who Know That They Don’t Know Possess a Type of Freedom That Is Rare The Oracle at Delphi told Socrates that he was wisest man in Athens because he alone had the wisdom to admit that he did not know things rather than…Humility8 min readHumility8 min read
Aug 8Member-onlyThe Videobook of Wanting is Now Available to WatchAre you a visual learner? This immersive, 53-minute experience brings the text to life — I’m excited to announce that, in partnership with LIT Video Books, the new videobook of Wanting—my book about why people want the things theyd want, drawing on the mimetic theory of the famous social theorist René Girard—is out now. The videobook is a 53-minute production narrated by me and a…Authors1 min readAuthors1 min read
Jul 28Member-onlyThe Truth About ConferencesAre they a ritualistic status game or a gathering place for people interested in learning and meeting others? — This past week, interest has piqued around the idea of “life as game” — namely, life as a giant game of status and recognition. A depressing thought. Ezra Klein interviewed C. Thi Nguyen on his podcast (episode title: “A Philosophy of Games That Is Really a Philosophy of Life”). And…Events5 min readEvents5 min read
