About this episode

Luke Burgis discusses the impact of community on personal identity and the importance of self-examination in the face of societal pressures.

#743: Everyone talks about a loneliness epidemic — but Luke Burgis argues the opposite problem is just as real: we now have so much easy, frictionless community that we never have to develop a solid sense of who we actually are. Luke Burgis is a professor of business at The Catholic University of America and the founder of the Cluny Institute, and the bestselling author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. He returns to the show to talk about his new book, The One and the Ninety-Nine. In this episode, we discuss: Why having too much easy community can be just as damaging as having none at all How to tell whether your beliefs are actually yours — or something you inherited without ever examining it Why cutting people off has quietly become the default response to conflict How to stop shrinking yourself just to keep other people comfortable The zero-tolerance rule Luke enforces at his own company to kill passive-aggressiveness before it starts How Luke actually decides who to trust, hire, and build relationships with What an existential crisis at 29 — and five humbling years training for the priesthood — taught a successful entrepreneur about identity This…

People in this episode

Host: Paula Pant

Guest: Luke Burgis

Topics covered

• identity
• community
• loneliness
• conflict resolution
• trust
• mimetic desire

Keywords

• identity
• community
• loneliness epidemic
• conflict
• trust
• mimetic desire
• passive-aggressiveness
• existential crisis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Catholic University of America, Cluny Institute

Books & works: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, The One and the Ninety-Nine

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