Richard Dawkins, who invented the term, talks about them in his (terrific) book, The Selfish Gene. Like the genes for which they're named, random mutations happ

Richard Dawkins, who invented the term, talks about them in his (terrific) book, The Selfish Gene. Like the genes for which they're named, random mutations happen in cultural artifacts (or mutations are introduced) and some are wildly successful while others never gain traction.