The Copying Instinct
The final quote I will share from this excellent book—in two images—presents evidence that humans copy each other so effortlessly, unconsciously, and automatically that they do so even when they are trying not to.
And this all serves as a nice coda to this piece:
If copying is something that humans do well and automatically, and if exploitation (using current resources) is a much more common natural strategy than exploration (innovation), then copying and exploitation may serve as components of a 'natural aesthetic' of teaching and learning. That is, modeling—promoting copying—and explicit knowledge-building—promoting exploitation—will likely be more natural for people in educational settings than alternatives.
Lest we run afoul of any appeal to nature here, we should note that being natural does not necessarily make something better or more beneficial. There’s other evidence showing that!