Nongenetic Memory

There are at least two ways by which birth is related to memory (or ‘Collective Memory’ to be more precise); the first is the Jungian ‘Collective Unconscious’ transmitted hereditarily and has been alternatively called ‘genetic memory’ (Treffert) while the second are Dawkins’ memes transmitted culturally. Much scholarship has been done on the first and for our present purposes it should suffice to say that “the contents of the collective unconscious have never been in consciousness, and therefore have never been individually acquired, but owe their existence exclusively to heredity” (Jung 1). The second, however, shall henceforth be our primary concern. Towards the end of his 1979 book The Selfish Gene, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins invented the word "meme" and recognized that a lot of human conduct came not from genes but rather from culture. He suggested that any nongenetic conduct be called a meme and posed the question as to whether the application of genetic logic to memes can be productive (to our understanding of culture). Patrick Davison writes in this context:
“Genes determine an organism’s physical characteristics… (but) are not thinking beings themselves... Memes determine the behavior of an organism. They are either taught to an organism (you go to school and learn math) or learned through experience (you stick a finger in an outlet,
Dawkins writes:
“I think that a new kind of replicator has recently emerged. . . . It is still in its infancy... but already it is achieving evolutionary change at a rate which leaves the old gene panting far behind.
We need a name for the new replicator, a noun which conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. ‘Mimeme’ comes from a suitable Greek root… (and) I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme. If it is any consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to ‘memory’... (Dawkins