Richard Dawkins remarks:

“Most of what is unusual about man can be summed up in one word: ‘culture'.  I use the word not in its snobbish sense, but as a scientist uses it.  Cultural transmission is analogous to genetic transmission in that, although basically conservative, it can give rise to a form of evolution.”

Man is unusual in relation to other animals and the one word that sums this up is “culture.” The word culture as used by Dawkins is being used as a scientist would. It is not used in a snobbish sense, say for instance, like referring to one who knows classical music or who practises a certain way of life as ‘cultured.'

Dawkins's text is based on the analogy between memes and genes. What is the basis for this analogy? It is simply that both can give rise to a form of evolution. So it is argued here that both “cultural transmission” and “genetic transmission” give rise to some sort of evolution .