The word “meme” was coined in the book “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins in 1976. Memes do for a society what genes do for a species. They carry crucial survival information down through time. A good meme is an idea that helps a society survive. That’s what culture is for.
Culture is not limited to humans. There is a pod of orcas that has learned to swim together to make a bow wave. They use this to sweep seals off small ice floes and get lunch. Other animal groups that pass information down the generations are said to have a culture. This usually doesn’t include mama showing the cubs what to eat. Note that “mama shows” not “mama teaches”. The kids are watching, though, and they learn. When mama brings home some live prey for the kids to practice on, that comes close to teaching.
The difference between animal and human culture is language. Growls and posture suffice for “Don’t do that!”. Humans still employ these, of course, but the use of language permits the transmission of far more abstract concepts. Memes, we submit, can only be described with words, so animals can have a culture, but don’t use memes.
The first meme, then, was probably just the word “No!” Later, it might be more specific: “Hey kid! You know Ogg died doing that!” Ogg’s death became a lesson in survival for future generations. Much, much later, we wrote such things down, which is a great meme on its own. In the beginning, the memories were kept in the living minds of the elders, which is the same as with animals.
Alternate History: Cavemen sit around the fire, discussing how to improve their lot. One suggests, “Hey! Let’s use memes!”, and human culture begins.
The name of Meme 0 is Lore, a catchall phrase for information passed down. It’s less self-referential than the Meme of Memes.