    8

    The Nose of a Rat and the Human Mind--

    A Brief History of the Rise of Memes

    "How many gods can there be in one sky?"

                         --from a song by the rock group Squeeze

    Memes probably arose by accident.  At least that's the

    implication of one clue to their origin--a clue from the world of the rat.

    Rats are obsessed with genes.  They absolutely love their

    relatives.  In their nests,  fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles and children

    crawl over, under and around each other, seeking constant body

    contact.  And they watch out for one other.  For example, if a rat

    discovers that a tempting hors d'oeuvre is actually laced with poison,

    he defecates and urinates on the insidious morsel to make sure none of

    his loved ones is duped into tasting the fatal snack.

    But the kindness of rats only extends to family.  Rats will

    mercilessly hunt down members of a rival clan.  And if a non-relative

    accidentally stumbles into their nest, the homey little creatures who a

    moment before were hugging one another will turn on the guest with

    the foreign genes and tear him limb from limb.12

    How do rats know who's kin and who's not?  How can they tell

    who shares their genes?  Rodents don't have a compound microscope

    with which to examine the replicators at the center of a visitor's cells, so

    they're stuck with making genetic guesstimates.  And those

    guesstimates are based on smell.

    Each rat household has its own tell-tale odor.  The smells of scent

    glands, excreta, food, the soft, warm stuff that lines the nest, and the

    wood, straw or earth of the chamber's walls blend into an

    unmistakable olfactory brew.   And every inhabitant wears that living-

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