To the degree that a person is social he is imitative. In the way that vital, or biological, resemblances are due to heredity, so human resemblances are caused by imitation. The closer the human resemblances between individuals, even though they be occupational competitors, the larger will be the proportion of imitations and the closer the social relationships. The father will always be the son’s first model.[XXII-11] A beloved ruler will so fascinate his people that they will imitate blindly, yea, even be thrown into a state of catalepsy by him. In such a case imitation becomes a kind of somnambulism.[XXII-12] Imitations are characterized by inclines, plateaus, and declines.[XXII-13] The incline refers to the period of time which an imitation requires for adoption. The plateau is the length of time during which an imitation is in force. The decline, of course, has to do with the passing away of an imitation. Each of these phases are of varying lengths--dependent upon the operation of almost countless socio-psychical factors. It is this career through which all imitations must pass that is the important phase of history.[XXII-14] There are two causal factors determining the nature of imitation: logical, and non-logical.[XXII-15] Logical causes operate when the imitator adopts an innovation that is in line with the principles that have already found a place in his own mind. Extra-logical, or non-logical, imitations are those which are determined by the adventitious factors of place, date, or birth of the individual. The fundamental law of imitation, stated in simplest terms, is that the superior are imitated by the inferior, for example: the patrician by the plebeian; the nobleman by the commoner; the beloved by the lover.[XXII-16] A more accurate statement of the law of imitation is that “the thing that is most imitated is the most superior one of those that are nearest.” The term “superior” in all these cases must be used in the subjective sense, that is to say, that which seems to the specific individual to be superior, not necessarily that which actually is the superior, is imitated. A country or period of time is democratic if the distance between the highest and lowest classes is lessened enough so that the highest may be imitated freely by the lowest.[XXII-17] Democracy will keep the distance between classes reduced to that minimum where imitation may operate. An important phase of sociology involves the knowledge and control of imitations.[XXII-18] Sociological statistics should determine (1) “the imitative power which inheres in every invention at any given time and place;” and (2) “the beneficial or harmful effects which result from the imitation of given inventions.”