Imitation as a Tool
Friday, February 14, 2014
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” We’ve all heard this, it’s how the level headed react to “copycats” or “ripoffs.” The truth is imitation is natural. We may not like to admit it but we’re all skilled imitators. Without it there would be no way to talk with one another or possess similar value systems. There’s a famous chapter in Richard Dawkin’s The Selfish Gene where he coins the term ‘meme’ to explain a non-biological form of evolution — an evolution of culture from one ‘survival machine’ to another.