{
  "id": 14867012,
  "title": "Mimetic desire, social contagion, and the fight for your true self",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/mimetic-desire-social-contagion-and-the-fight-for-your-true-self",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-16T04:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Big Think",
    "slug": "big-think",
    "url": "https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/mimetic-desire-contagion/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "In 1936, a shipyard worker in Hamburg kept his arms folded while hundreds of men around him raised theirs for Hitler. Luke Burgis, author of Wanting and The One in the 99, wants to know what it takes to become that person, and he traces the answer back to the family. Drawing on psychiatrist Murray Bowen’s distinction between the solid self and the pseudo self, Burgis shows how anxiety and opinion…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}