Dr. M. C. Gupta's Journal

HERD MEMORY

HERD MEMORY 


[Ethics, morals and herd memory]








While commenting upon my item "DO WE NEED RELIGION, MORALS AND ETHICS?" , a reader, who is a pediatrician,  commented: “I do not think morals and ethics have anything to do with formal religion. They (i.e. the morals and ethics) are basic stuff inbred  within mankind, and could be offshoots of herd memory.”





The reply I sent to him may be of general interest. Hence, I am posting it below.





***





Dear Dr……,





There is no basis for saying that the morals and ethics are basic stuff inbred


within mankind.





1--The moment you bring in breeding, you are talking of genetic


mechanisms. As per the science of genetics, there is no scientific


evidence for that. Human genome has been decoded. No one has yet


identified a gene or genes responsible for storing and transmitting


characteristics related to ethics and morals.








2--What is herd memory? You are now delving into a field that is ill


understood. Please sample the following—





“With the emerging knowledge concerning both genetic memory and herd


memory witnessed in animal populations (including human), this matter


may be more than a moot point in itself. The sciences exploring these


avenues in the contemporary western world are however very young, and


we may have to wait many decades or more until these mysteries of


Nature are unravelled to any great extent.”





The link is-- http://209.85.175.132/search?q=cache:cr8TBKthuYgJ:www.equinepodiatry.net/Text_Fi...








3. I think the basic difference between genetic memory and herd memory


is that while the former is transmitted through genes and is innate in


the individual, being present in the  individual at the time of birth,


the latter is a set of beliefs and experiences transmitted through


societal inter-individual / inter-personal / cultural / herd contact


and is not innate in the individual, since it is not present at the


time of birth. There are recorded instances where a human infant was


carried away by a wolf to deep forests, away from all human


habitation, and was reared by wolves and lived like a wolf till


rescued at the age of 5-12 years. Many such instances were reported in


newspapers when I was young and human population was less and forests


were more. These children probably stole food and preyed upon and


killed and tore and ate up other smaller animals like a wolf would.


Had ethics and morals been inbred in man, “human qualities and


concepts of ethics and morality” would have been visible in these


rescued children. They were not.





The point about herd memory not being inbred in mankind is indirectly


brought out in--


http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/08/scientists-find.html








M C Gupta


5 March 2009