Social media addiction – how it changes your brain, with Luke Burgis
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By definition, mimetic desire means that we’re adopting another person’s desire as our own, usually without even realizing that we’re doing it. Social media has given us millions of mimetic models that we now have to contend with. Some people have gone from having 10 mimetic models to now having thousands, and we haven’t quite come to grips as a culture with what that means for our mental and emotional health.
All desire comes from us feeling like we lack something, which can bring us into a dangerous, vicious habit because there will always be another model to find. We have to choose our models wisely whether they are famous influencers across the globe or our closest friends. We also have to know when the model is inflaming us with the desire for something that’s going to bring real fulfillment or whether it’s going to bring a dopamine hit or allow us to fantasize about a life that we’ll probably never have.
All desires are modeled for us 24 hours a day, billions of them, and we need to understand the mimetic landscape of social media, or else we’ll become completely controlled by it.
Read the video transcript:
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About Luke Burgis:
Luke Burgis is a veteran entrepreneur and author. He’s the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship in Washington, DC, and the founder of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator that invests in people, art, and technology that contribute to a healthy human ecology. Luke studied business at NYU Stern before doing graduate work in philosophy and earning an S.T.B. in Theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He’s the author of the book Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, which popularized the work of cultural anthropologist René Girard. He lives with his wife, Claire, in the DC area.
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Read more of our stories on social media addiction:
Profile of a social media addict: Do you fit the description?
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Psychology, Social Media Addiction, and the Element of Surprise
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Tech hack: These 4 steps will make your phone less distracting
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By the way, the video was great and the video with Taya was awesome. I loved it and hope you continue your way this direction ❤️
Thank you
Social media isn't the problem if u use it in the right way but our own brain is the biggest problem of em all if it only absorbs the negativity from it😅
I deleted my face book a year ago…Biggest enemy maker I ever saw worst than cb radio…
Great work
Social media has destroyed relationships and our communication skills. Now we are all online consumers while mindlessly swiping on and off we just lose our ability to focus on real shit.
I think the memetic desire shows us that social medias have come into our life robustly. So we have to control our attention what we consume on: videos, audious, texts and so on. Because in these bunches of information we can lost our targets, feeling and us completely.
🅸︎ 🅵︎🅰︎︎🆁︎🆃︎🅴︎🅳︎ 🌚💝💝
So much more to .. explore. Yet the loneliness is real… Bring back real human engagement 💜
I don't have Instagram, my WhatsApp is evebory silence and archived. Much distractions that means nothing relevant. All this illusions it was deleveloped just to make money for somebody that don't care at all to all people there bellow, that became zumbies looking at mobiles, as if they were God. Miserables.
Social media is a junk food for social life.
Maybe because everyone is fake on social media. They all pretend that things are perfect in there life. Guess what it's not reality! People pretend very well. This why I call Facebook, Fakebook.
The ads before the video starts make me feel even more miserable
But how does this video address its own title? I was hoping to learn more if / about how the physical brain is altered when one consumes "too much" social media. It should be retitled to "Memic Desire in the Modern, Overly Connected World"
Lets start by you deleting this and we follow suit.
Agreed?
Social media has made us so callous, insensitive, and ignorant overall, in my opinion.
It is good to use social medis to connect with orhers, share similar passions, and eveb vuild lasting relationships.
But it seems that the bad qualities of social media shone through more than the good.
Its to the point now, the less social media, the better off you are.
We forget that technology is here for our use, not to let it use us.
Try the dopamine reset! I have found it pretty amazing. Simply turn off your Wi-Fi, turn off your phone and all of your tablets and turn off your TV for the entire weekend. Do nothing but prepare nice meals, go for good walks or a nice hike, do some overdue chores around the house, relax and read a book. Try it!
great information
Been of Wastebook since January, never realized how consuming it was , since then
Not one text , phone call , from anyone, and I have reached out , It has made people so lazy it’s sad ,
Whatever happened to texting a friend ???
People are not living their own lives .
Yes it is true social media always presents you with a mediator models of desire: for example I speak 8 languages and once they knew that for a commentary I wrote then they started presenting me content of a person who speaks 10 languages, they same with other channels I have! I have a channel of 600 subscribers about a theme and they present a channel to me about the same theme that has 5000 subscribers! they are pathetic 😂
I had this virus from 2007 till 2009 while I was using hi5. When Facebook appeared, I was already cured
I just saw a video titled "This $500,000 Property Will Crash London's Real Estate Market." Do you think this is possible? Can a property like this really have such a big impact?
Life was better before social media. I wish it wasn’t a part of life!
Remember – you are loved! Jesus loved you and gave his life so that you could be free because of Him! He died for our sins so that we can be reconnected with our Creator God. He wants us all to repent of our sins and receive a new life in Him! A life of strength, faith, and the ability to truly love others as God has loved us. He wants us to follow Him, and let Him be the Lord of our lives. Why is that part important? Because through Christ we will be given the power to overcome sin in our lives today. Christ offers this blessing to all who choose to believe in Him, trust Him and follow Him xx He will never leave you nor forsake you xxx
Whatsapp is gone here. It's very, very quiet. I like it! I will never install it again! No instagram here, no facebook, no toktik or whatever! They can call me, just like in the old days. You shall see that they don't call you. Nice and quiet!
Social Media is Platform when u use it exsessively
Is not liking Social Relationship
Please Mitigate All Social Media in healthy Portion ❤😊😊❤
The Real News is really Good
Indeed
Quote by Jullian Assange
WikiLeaks Founder
Free and 100% Natural Healing to Protect Mental Well-Being:
Stay mindful of these 7 Ways the Media Can Control Our Minds and Bring Out Our Worst:
1. Desensitizing Us to Violence – Repeated exposure to crime shows and documentaries can make us numb to real-life violence.
2. Lowering Our Self-Esteem – Constant portrayals of wealth and success may leave us feeling inadequate or excluded.
3. Dumbing Us Down – Reality TV tends to prioritize shallow entertainment over meaningful content, steering us away from critical thinking.
4. Spreading Misinformation – Fake news can confuse us and manipulate our views.
5. Distracting Us – Sports, sex, reality TV, and sensational topics often pull us away from important issues.
6. Promoting Sex and Alcohol – Constant emphasis on these themes can dull our thinking and make us more passive, both switch-off the brain, effectively numbing and enslaving the mind.
7. Instilling Fear Through News – Fear-inducing stories increase anxiety, making us more compliant and less likely to take action.
This list highlights how media can subtly shape our thoughts and emotions, often in ways we don’t fully realize. Stay safe from mental issues.
the streets are so quiet while are phones are overheating 😢 no more bbqs, kids playing outside, music filling the sidewalks
How can individuals cultivate self-awarencess and develop their own thick desires in a world where mimetic desire is pervasive ?
U don't have to be on it the feds still mess with you
They are using my mom's social media to fuck with me she is brain washed
The problem with social media & the average user are the platforms/apps that emphasize a user profile (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X/Twitter, Reddit to an extent) and pair that with showing you things via an algorithm. All of those aforementioned places serve up your data for customized ads which influence us & all except for X/Twitter are public companies. So there is a lot more sinister happenings going on in the background when you have all this ad money influence and shareholder interest in a company meant for communication.
Platforms/apps like YouTube or Discord are much healthier forms of social media because they are much less about the individual user. Sure YouTube has an algorithm but you can also easily just not use it and only see your subscriptions' videos and use it more live a TV (aka not going into the comments). Also – with ads on YouTube you can make it so they aren't "tailored" to you. Discord is the best overall (no ads, private company, servers don't have the "hivemind" effect that subreddits do).
Technically WhatsApp, Snapchat & Telegram are social media but they are just messaging apps.
1:12
Social media causes brainrott its a waste of time and energy you got so much to explore and learn in your life
There's a statement that I was told as a child: Not everything you see on television is real and true. The same holds true for 'Social Media'. My main reason for using social media is to connect to those I miss, who have played an important part in my life. Here are some examples: Naval Affiliations, Classmates, Distant Friends, etc. I live alone and my family is scattered. Social media allowed me to gather those people in one group as a means of reunion. My view of 'Social Media' doesn't even come CLOSE to what is mentioned in this video. My life is on the line and I need help. THAT is why I use 'Social Media'. Due to interference and suppression, I'm walking away. I have learned that NOBODY CARES.
Enjoy life ☑️
Social media life ❎
Hello! I’m a student and I’d like to ask permission to use a few scenes for school purposes. Thank you!
the comment section of this video is the life i desire
One thing I've realized as a social media user who uses social media to make money and interact is how important it is to recognize that everything has to be different. I'm personally always learning how to respond to everything online and realizing that it doesn't really exist in your real life. So, separate your real world from the online world for good things like making money and relationships. Yes, most people can't differentiate between that.
I got rid of my social media for good as it was making me feel bad about myself and I was getting sucked into other peoples business that has nothing to do with me and other thing is, I ended up going into mental health meltdowns and was too hard on myself and lets say if someone goes into a relationship or gets married and they post it on social media, I ended up feeling I was absolutely worth nothing, then I started to become jealous of people succeeding, my behaviour started to get bad, I started to experience depression and anxiety, had the feeling no one wanted me and if I posted selfies of myself and if no one likes them I get angry at people just because they didn't comment or like.
I deleted my social media to live longer and enjoy life properly.
Einstein said "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interactions. The world will have a generation of idiots"
The absolute best best video I’ve saw this year 2025 my god we must be so careful guys we must wake up help everybody to wake up and life our life ! He is so so so right gosh this man is our savior we Have millions of people we like and there is no end of it so we will lose our lives guys we will lose our dreams and real wishes and we will die and never lived because we chased other peoples strangers who Dose not care about us 😥😭😢 please help your children your friends family’s to wake up … I love all humanity but all humanity also destroyed us we destroy our self 😢 WE NEED TO WAKE UP !
Quotting Instagram is the best decision to make. Social media is unheallthy for everyone imdividually and colectively.
Civilization is crumbling due to the chaos amd dystopian realities created by social media psychosis.
Social media addiction – how it changes your brain | Luke Burgis | Big Think
Hey, I’m a high school student, do I have permission to use this video for my advocacy video?