Getting ‘In Synch’ via Craft Chocolate

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Synchronise your Enjoyment of Craft Chocolate

We’d like to suggest how craft chocolate, and the stories of the farmers and makers, will make your consumption of craft chocolate more synchronised, stimulating and sensual, via two “Ms” (not M&Ms!):

• Mimetic Behaviour
• Mirroring

Some of this may seem a bit theoretical. But hopefully it’ll provide some food for thought. And some fun experiments.

What is Mimetic Behaviour?

Ever wondered what’s really happening when suddenly everyone around you is fascinated by a song, planning to run a marathon, wearing a certain colour, reading an author, or eating salted caramels? Or at a more visceral level, have you ever wondered why when one child is interested in ‘toy A’ in the playbox suddenly all the other children want the same toy? Or what is really happening with FOMO (fear of missing out)?

Back in the 1960s, Rene Girard, a French polymath, published a theory of human behaviour based off reading Cervantes, Shakespeare, Stendhal, Proust, and Dostoevsky, etc. that offered an intriguing answer. He suggested that “we desire according to the desire of the other … we rely on mediators or models to help us understand who and what to desire”. Put another way, when we see others taking enjoyment from something, we want to ‘mimic’ that. And when we see someone else getting pleasure from the same thing we enjoy, this also gives us a psychological ‘boost’.

Many of the conclusions Girard came to from applying this idea are pessimistic and controversial (for example, his theory on scapegoats and it being easier to agree on what we stand against rather than believe in).

But he also applied his insight to explain the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of feeling a connection to, for example, someone at a concert who is smiling at the same bits of music as we enjoy them too, and how this “establishes a bond”. And it also offers an intriguing insight as to how we learn the ‘instinct’ of disgust (which may not be instinctual…) and why this is so different across cultures, and why the look of disgust is the same one we make when we eat something bitter.

Applying Mimesis to Craft Chocolate

Craft chocolate is one of those things that (almost) everyone enjoys. And savouring craft chocolate is a great way of synchronising your delight and emotions. Sure you can share your passion for a piece of music. But how many of your friends, or indeed partners, have the same music ‘tastes’? The same is true of books (and that’s why book clubs are still so popular).

So whilst you may have to compromise on what music to listen to or film to view with people you love, craft chocolate shouldn’t be a compromise. (Almost) everyone loves chocolate, especially craft chocolate. Sure you may have individual favourites. But that’s part of the fun. It’s like discussing which song from your favourite artist you like most with a fellow fan. It’s not like debating punk versus classical music.

At our tastings, it’s wonderful to see how craft chocolate is a common bond and source of delight. Indeed one of the most uplifting parts of our virtual tastings is witnessing the enjoyment of people (anonymously) sharing one another’s descriptions and delights. Craft chocolate’s flavours, textures, sensuality, and depths provide a great bridge to bond and enjoy together.

If you don’t believe this; try it. Try any number of our craft chocolate bars, and savour it together. As you find chocolates you both enjoy, it’ll showcase the psychological power of mimesis. And it’s fun. And stimulating. (And potentially sensual!).

And come to a virtual tasting session!

What is Mirroring?

What’s really extraordinary is that, in the last few years, neuroscientists have started to back up Girard’s theories with experiments that show how shared experiences and narratives bring people together not just psychologically but also physiologically. Literally people’s heart rates, breathing, pupil dilations, hormone releases, etc. will synchronise as they read (or see) the same stories.

To read more about this, please see some interesting articles and podcasts below, with links to the original research by Perez et al. (and it’s their image above in the header):

https://lukeburgis.com/mimetic-desire/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124721011396
https://violenceandreligion.com/mimetic-theory/
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/927995
https://news.sky.com/story/our-heartbeats-synchronise-while-were-listening-to-stories-researchers-find-12408000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcuMLQVAgEg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgAcOqVRfYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72svGiOaKMk

But if you want to take your craft chocolate savouring to a new level, why not also read the stories of the farmers and makers in the chocolates you are enjoying with your partner at the same time? Unlike mass produced chocolate and confectionery, we know where the beans come from and where they are crafted for every bar (and bonbon) we sell. And on the website and bar pages, we’ve the stories that explain the inspiration behind all our makers, and more, and more of the farmers, co-operatives and NGOs with whom they are working.