Cope's beliefs became one with an increased emphasis on continual and utilitarian evolution with less involvement of a Creator. He became one of the founders of the Neo-Lamarckism school of thought, which holds that individuals can pass on traits acquired in its lifetime to offspring. Although the view has been shown to be incorrect, it was common among paleontologists in Cope's time. In 1887, Cope published his own "Origin of the Fittest: essays in evolution", detailing his views on the subject. He was a strong believer in the law of use and disuse—that an individual will slowly, over time, favor an anatomical part of its body so much that it will become stronger and larger as time progresses down the generations. This theory fails because use and disuse does not affect the genetic code of the gametes, something which became clear in the generations after his death.