Sohil Gupta

“engineering desire, is the approach of Silicon Valley, authoritarian governments, and the Cult of Experts. The first two use intelligence and data to centrally plan a system in which people want things that other people want them to want -- things that benefit a certain group of people. This approach poses a serious threat to human agency. It also lacks respect for the capability of people to freely desire what is best for themselves and for the people they love.”
― Luke Burgis, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life

“People don’t fight because they want different things; they fight because mimetic desire causes them to want the same things.”
― Luke Burgis, Wanting: Mimetic Desire: How to Avoid Chasing Things You Don't Truly Want

“Desire doesn’t spread like information; it spreads like energy. It passes from person to person like the energy between people at a concert or political rally. This energy can lead to a cycle of positive desire, in which healthy desires gain momentum and lead to other healthy desires, uniting people in positive ways; or it can become a cycle of negative desire, in which mimetic rivalries lead to conflict and discord.”
― Luke Burgis, Wanting: Mimetic Desire: How to Avoid Chasing Things You Don't Truly Want

“I love Voltaire’s observation that “History never repeats itself; man always does.”
― Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money