Science Beyond Materialism

Sheldrake is best known for his notion of “morphic resonance.” According to the theory, patterns of behavior resonate across time and space between similar organisms. Habits and skills learned by one organism or person become easier for later members of the species to learn because a habit learned by one individual becomes part of the species’ form, embedded in something like a collective mind. Once one rat learns his way through a maze, other rats have an easier time figuring out the same maze; once one human masters snowboarding, others do so more rapidly.

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/04/science-beyond-materialism