Why Do Founders Love René Girard? - Johnathan Bi

There was a military theorist, Jon Boyd, and he said something like, "Great fighter pilots use their superior judgment to make sure they never have to get into situations to use their superior force." And I think the same is true for understanding memetic theory. It doesn't give you the ability to just snap your fingers, uh, and not be social creatures, but it does give you the, the foresight to see bad situations coming and potentially avoid it. (wind blows)

Jonathan B., welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me, Chris. Excited to be on.

So, the first time that we met was through David Perell, actually, and we went out for dinner. Now, David is a man who has two modes of, uh, culinary experience, and he either goes, uh, Chick-fil-A or fighting hobos outside of a food truck, or he goes to the most expensive steak restaurant in town. I've noticed this since spending time with him-

Right.

... that he's got... He's very, sort of, barbelly when it comes to what he wants to do with food. Uh, but thankfully, we went to the, we went to the nice, nice steak restaurant.

Yeah. Although I, I, I w- wouldn't mind, uh, f- fighting for a taco, uh, next time with you when I'm in Austin, so.

David, David's oddly, uh, experienced at that, which is-

Right.

... uh, concerning-

Incredible, given how small and scrawny he is.

That's true, look, he's-

I'm sure everyone would appreciate that.

... he's got a new girlfriend that's like training him up or something. She's making him eat, like, a surplus of calories. Uh-

Yeah.

... he once took me for lunch at some French place on Congress, and I was in flip-flops and a pair of shorts, and it was just wags and, like, little tiny model dogs. But anyway, anyway, enough about David Perell. Um, are you trained in Rene Girard, the philosopher? Have you got some sort of, like, Girardian accreditation?

Uh, perhaps I have the most Girardian of accreditations, which is, uh, you know, being self-taught. Um, Girard himself was trained in, uh, history in Indiana University, and before that, he was an archivist in, in France. But, uh, you know, h- he neither made any contributions to, you know, art or, uh, uh, being a librarian or, uh, history. And the avenues that he did make significant contributions to, uh, in, in, you know, in anthropology, in theology, in psychology, he was all self-taught. So, uh, I suppose (laughs) the answer, that, that's a nice way of saying no. Um-

But followed in his footsteps, did it the right way.

Yes, yes. I, uh, I, I, I was trained in, um, uh, continental philosophy. Um, and however, uh, Girard is, is not read at all in the, in the academy, uh, unless in literary criticism. Um, and so I, I was, sort of, introduced to Girard as a, as a sophomore and I had to read the Girardian canon, so to speak, myself. With a couple of friends, of course. That's what always makes the journey fun.