Imitation In Strange Creatures By Susan Blackmore

Looking through the course of human history, it is evident that imitation is something that is instilled into us. Imitation is quite important as it to some extent helps make who we are. Each and every one of us are different, but parts of us are continuously shaped by a mimicry of things we’ve experienced throughout our life. The way we speak is because of who we grew up around, the clothes we wear are influenced by media and our peers, our morals and beliefs are greatly controlled by our religion, etc. From imitating others, we found bits and pieces of who we are or who we want to be. However, being that imitation is a part of our everyday life, many of us don’t realize the significance and power it holds. Strange Creatures by Susan Blackmore

Memes have created empowerment between millions of people. For instance, Blackmore “wrote about religions as groups of memes with a high survival value, infecting whole societies with belief in a God or an afterlife” (36). Religion has been passed down from generation to generation; giving most of the world a reason for their existence and creating a sense of community between thousands. These beliefs are all memes spread by individuals because it greatly influences and alters their way of life. Not only religion, but Blackmore suggested memes can be the most simplest of things like "tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches" (page #). As Blackmore stated, “[imitation] comes so effortlessly that we hardly think about it” (page #). When an artist produces a new song, if we like it we will continuously listen to it because the lyrics might mean something to us or it might just be catchy. When we hear new catchphrases, we might add it to our everyday vocabulary. When we see someone, for example, a celebrity with a new style of clothing we will try to imitate it simply because we admire their look. All of these are memes which are essential parts of society today and helps make who we