Evolution of Mimicry

Over the course of time, after the inexplicable start of the universe, there was a small little pebble and on that small little pebble, there were a lot of weird things. But they all boil down to one word we know as life. As time passed, we came to know that tiny pebble as Earth. But it all started with a few bacteria that spread and spread through evolution and it came to the point of homo sapiens. After that, it is obvious that we didn’t really have much to fend for ourselves. We didn’t have the speed of the deer to escape the predators or the strength of the lions and bears to become the predators. From that standpoint, it appeared that there was nothing that could keep us alive. We had nothing interesting about us; any physical survival traits that wasn’t bested by something else surrounding us.  Bipedalism. It was something that was already performed well by our primate ancestors.

But there was something much better and much smaller and something that had the potential to become much, much bigger than anything that this planet had ever produced. Our brains. As every animal bested us in physical strength, our brains grew in size. In my theory, social mimicry played a crucial role in the evolution of human race. Someone experimented and something new happened. Suddenly, that something new became interesting and innovative. Others wanted to do it because it was useful for our survival and growth. We are designed to copy and mimic. Children learn to talk from their parents and adults surrounding them. They also learn from their peers through mimicry. This copying is ubiquitous. As we saw one innovator created something or did something new, the rest followed. Suddenly, we all had wooden knives and stone tools.

As time passed, we start to label ourselves more than animals. Something higher than them. Although it could be construed as mean from one standpoint, it is true. Unlike other animals, our minds kept growing at a much faster pace than the lions and zebras. Suddenly, the lions that would maul and ate us for dinner were in cages and the young homosapiens would point at these animals. Horses and elephants became our vehicles. And we ruled over the world at the top of the food chain. Even to the point, we started causing extinction of species for mere sport.

And as the world evolved, we have the world that we have today. Today this mimicry has moved us from survival to trends. Whenever a new Iphone comes out, they start having new features and other phone companies start emulating them. All of the customers are copying the very first person who bought it and suddenly more and more people have the new IPhones. But a small thing doesn’t just apply to Apple products but it applies to the nature of trends. The act of doing something because everyone else is doing that. However, with  trends comes much less reasoning. What was a useful evolutionary device for our survival and development is also being used for developing trends. What to wear, what to read, what to watch and what to do. Suddenly, every body seems to be doing the exact same thing. Portions of people begin to realize that and hate it. These people proceed to veer away from the norm and are known as hipsters. I know, weird creatures, right?

Eventually, as trends keep on going, people finally ask themselves, “What am I doing? Why am I doing this?” and then the trend dies off. And then they proceed to the next trend. Rinse and repeat. Hipsters diverge from the norms and start new trends. People wearing clothes of sixties; people wearing jackets in the middle of summer because it is cool and hip. And scientists working hard to begin new innovative processes so people can use it for meaningful purposes. Like the mimicry in human evolution, survival and growth. And honestly, trends aren’t going to die. This mimicry is always going to be there. Because we are all copying machines. This is why I have decided not to jump on to a trend or be a hipster, but just be indifferent. Why don’t I start a trend myself? The trend of being a hipster!