Monkey See, Monkey Do

The other day, I found myself retelling a favourite joke of someone I love with the same

humorous shrill, a meticulously plagiarised slip of syllables, and the exact litter of rhythmic

pauses her speech often bubbles with. This phenomenon is what psychologists Chartrand and

John Burgh noticed and dubbed ‘The Chameleon Effect’.A sincere token of flattery, this

unconscious imitation curiously acts as a social adhesive, bringing our circle to a closer, tighter

knit. Proving, rather funnily enough, that perhaps we are all nothing but shape-shifting creatures,

slowly yet steadily morphing into the portraits of the ones we love.