The Meme Machine

200 THE MEME MACHINE
them in heaven. A society in which brave young men are prepared to die for
their beliefs is likely to win a war against a society in which they are more
concerned about protecting themselves or avenging their family. Such a victory
is a victory for the memes that created the difference in the first place, and for
the genes of the survivors.
We can now see why group selection might be important in memetics.
Religions are a good example of a mechanism that decreases within-group
differences, while increasing between-group differences and rates of group
extinction. In many religions conformity is encouraged, forbidden behaviours
are punished, differences between believers and unbelievers are exaggerated,
fear or hatred of people with other beliefs is nurtured, and migration to a
different religion made difficult or impossible. Wars between religious groups
are common and in our evolutionary history many groups have lived or died for
their religion. All this makes it more likely that group selection has occurred. If
there were genetic differences between the groups to start with, then the survival
of some groups and extinction of others would have had effects on the gene
pool. In this case we could say that the religious memes have driven the genes.
This is likely to be most interesting if, for example, there was some genetic
reason why one group took up one religion while a different group took up a
different religion. Let us imagine two neighbouring groups of early hominids in
which, by chance, one group had more of a genetic tendency to want to bury
their dead in elaborate ways. This is not at all far-fetched if you remember that
digging and burying behaviour is under genetic control in many species, from
worms and wasps to rabbits and dogs. This genetic propensity then encouraged
these people to develop a religion based on ancestor worship and an afterlife –
we can call them the ‘Afterlifers’. Meanwhile, the other group developed a
religion based on worshipping nature spirits – we can call them the ‘Naturists’.
The Afterlifers then developed a taste for war, believing their ancestors’ spirits
would aid them, and that they would individually go to heaven if they killed an
enemy, whereas the Naturists just got on with their own interests. In
consequence, the Afterlifers won more of the wars against the Naturists; their
memes spread – and so did their genes. Genes for the original ritual burying
behaviour were selected for by group selection driven by memes.
I am not suggesting that this precise series of events has actually happened,
but that this general mechanism could have shaped human nature and given us
our religious tendencies. The principle is a general one and could theoretically
apply to all kinds of genetic predispositions, such as conformity, having