# Memes as cultural drivers The whole idea of memes comes from Richard Dawkins’ 1976 book titled “The Selfish Gene”. Most of the book is about what Dawkins calls “universal darwinism”, which proposes the idea that all biology is driven by genes, but **culture is driven by memes.** The study of [Memetics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memetics), which Dawkins later distanced himself from, is described as "the study of self-replicating units of culture, based on the analogy with Darwinian evolution". All around us is information copied by imitation, from person to person**:** Chairs, trousers, hairstyles, slang, manners - all of these things are here because humans have copied them and the ones around us are the winners in an evolutionary battle. Then comes the concept of internet memes. People had a first row seat to easily see this process happening with Pepe. ![Animation from "Feels Good Man" documentary](/files/XBNjyY5gHzWJD80tencD) > *“Pepe is a wonderful example of a meme that escaped out there into the* **'***memosphere' and suffered all the things you’d expect of a meme.”* - Dr. Susan Blackmore, psychologist and author of “The Meme Machine”. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://wiki.pepe.wtf/chapter-1-historical-lore/the-creation-pepe-the-frog/birth-of-the-meme/memes-as-cultural-drivers.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.