What are the consequences of mimetic desire?
Mimetic desire leads to either positive or negative consequences. Because all of this searching for being and following after models is going on unconsciously, the positive and the negative consequences can be difficult to perceive. One of Girard’s greatest insights is that both mutual love and conflict originate in mimetic desire. For a positive mimetic desire to occur, we need to be influenced by positive models – people who exhibit positive mimetic behavior. This behavior includes: loving, forgiving, fair minded, merciful and truthful. When we are influenced by our model to behave in these ways, we acquire a positive sense of who we are, and we are likely to deal with conflicts in positive, life affirming ways. This involves a desire for win-win situations emerging out of conflict. In this way, positive mimesis allows each person in a conflict to be “other oriented” – to desire what is best for the other person. In an interview, Girard affirms that “Positive mimetic desire works out
