A multidisciplinary exploration of our human inclination to herd and why our instinct to copy others can be dangerous in today's interlinked world Rioting teenagers, tumbling stock markets, and the spread of religious terrorism appear to have little in common, but all are driven by the same basic instincts: the tendency to herd, follow, and imitate others. In today's interconnected world, group choices all too often seem maladaptive. With unprecedented...

Rousseau's opposition to the theater is well known: But is it possible that Rousseau's texts reveal a different conception of theatrical imitation? This short but potent text from a powerful European thinker places Rousseau at the origin of modern speculative philosophy by showing that his thinking on the theater articulates a radical thinking of originary mimesis that was to inflect the future of philosophy.