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Comment
. 2014 Jun;37(3):275-6.
doi: 10.1017/S0140525X13003038.

Why religion is better conceived as a complex system than a norm-enforcing institution

Richard Sosis  1 , Jordan Kiper  1
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Comment

Why religion is better conceived as a complex system than a norm-enforcing institution

Richard Sosis et al. Behav Brain Sci. 2014 Jun.

Abstract

Although religions, as Smaldino demonstrates, provide informative examples of culturally evolved group-level traits, they are more accurately analyzed as complex adaptive systems than as norm-enforcing institutions. An adaptive systems approach to religion not only avoids various shortcomings of institutional approaches, but also offers additional explanatory advantages regarding the cultural evolution of group-level traits that emerge from religion.

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  • Group-level traits emerge.
    Smaldino PE. Smaldino PE. Behav Brain Sci. 2014 Jun;37(3):281-95. doi: 10.1017/s0140525x13003531. Behav Brain Sci. 2014. PMID: 25101360

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