NevadaGayAtheist

Pharyngula:Spell already broken, and I haven't even read the book: "This assumption that religion must contribute to fitness is a standard panadaptationist assumption, and I disagree strongly with the entire premise. Deleterious traits can be fixed in a population, too, and complex properties like religious behavior aren't going to be so neatly dissected into simple causes. Religion is a parasitic side-effect, a by-blow of other characteristics (like social cohesion, curiousity, the need to explore causes) that are addressed sub-optimally by the simple shortcuts of religious dogma. Treating it as a good solution, rather than a pathological and limiting one, is conceding it far more credit and respect than it deserves."