About this episode

This episode explores René Girard's theory of mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism as presented in his work 'Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World'.

There is a machine that built every civilization on earth. It runs on borrowed desire, collective violence, and a lie so old no one alive remembers when it started.René Girard spent his career proving it — and one ancient text broke it open."Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World" (1978) argues that all human culture — every religion, every legal code, every political order — was built on the same mechanism: a community in crisis, mimetic violence spreading, and one victim sacrificed to restore the peace. Girard called this the scapegoat mechanism. And he found that one text — and only one — ever told that story from the victim's side.This video covers Girard's theory of mimetic desire, the mimetic crisis, the scapegoat mechanism, and why the Gospels represent the most radical inversion in the history of human storytelling. It ends with a question you won't be able to stop asking.Based on "Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World" by René Girard (1978).0:00 Intro1:33 What This Video Is About3:08 Mimetic Desire — You Don't Want What You Want6:03 When Desire Becomes Rivalry8:58 The Scapegoat Mechanism12:29 How the Lie Held for Thousands of Years14:44 Gerard Reads…

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