Thin Desire

Definition

Thin desire is a term coined by Luke Burgis in Wanting (2021), describing desires that are shallow, mimetically borrowed from others, and disconnected from one’s deeper values. Thin desires are contrasted with thick desires.

The metaphor is of depth: thin desires are surface-level, sustained only by external mimetic pressure.

Characteristics of Thin Desire

A thin desire:

• Evaporates when the model disappears — if no one else wanted it, you’d stop wanting it
• Is intensified by rivalry and obstacle — the more others want it, the more you want it
• Generates restlessness after fulfillment — getting what you wanted leaves you wanting something else
• Is borrowed from a social environment — driven by what seems prestigious, fashionable, or desirable to others
• Is often recent — thin desires arise in response to specific social triggers

Most people have many more thin desires than they realize. The experience of achieving something you badly wanted and finding it hollow is often the experience of a thin desire being satisfied.

Why Thin Desires Aren’t Worthless

Thin desires are not always harmful. Mimetic desire is how we learn, how culture spreads, how communities form. The problem is not thin desire itself but when it dominates — when life is organized around borrowed desires with no authentic core.

Burgis’s argument is that most people in contemporary culture, especially those immersed in social media, are living primarily thin lives: pursuing desires they borrowed from others, satisfying them briefly, and immediately borrowing new ones. The result is restlessness, comparison, and a persistent sense of emptiness.

Recognition

Thin desires can often be recognized by:

• How quickly they shift as social context changes
• How much of the satisfaction comes from being seen to have the thing (the job, the relationship, the lifestyle) rather than having it
• How much you needed to tell others about the achievement to feel satisfied
• Whether you wanted it before you saw others wanting it