Religion
In reply to the discussion: Do primates practice religion? [View all]napoleon_in_rags
(3,991 posts)Richard Dawkins dubbed them "memes" and advanced the idea that they are similar in function to genes. That means they are derived through evolutionary process. For instance, how to get red wine out of carpet? Many memes for how to do this are on the internet, involving salt, other things. The answer, the one that worked for me, is dawn dish soap and hydrogen peroxide. (I know from experience) so this meme advances, because its an idea that works. In time the others will die off.
Humans emulate behaviors they see others doing that are successful. In such circumstances, the behavior itself can be viewed as a propagating gene. Natural selection happens with ideas, and the reasons for propagation of an idea can be simple, as with the red wine removal, or they can be complex, dealing with emergent phenomenon as with religions.