Propagation of memes

Memes have as an important characteristic their propagation through
imitation, a concept introduced by the French sociologist Gabriel
Tarde. Imitation involves copying the observed behaviour of another
individual. Typically imitators copy behaviour from observing other
humans, but they may also copy from an inanimate source, such as from a
book or from a musical score. Imitation may depend on brains
sufficiently powerful to assess the key aspects of the imitated
behavior (what to copy and why) as well as its potential benefits