(6,188 words)
Abstract: Adaptation in evolutionary biology refers to a trait of an organism or the process by which an organism evolved a particular trait. Famous examples of adaptations as a trait include the beaks of birds, the camouflage patterns of insects, and the shapes of fins of aquatic vertebrates such as seals and porpoises. The modern understanding of adaptation as a trait depends strongly on the notion of adaptation as a process driven by natural selection. The key elements of this process are the presence of individual differences, these differences having consequences for the performance of individuals, the inheritance of these differences, and the resulting performance differences having consequences for future representation in the population. There are recent claims that religion is an adaptation and has evolved because individuals with religious beliefs have had higher survival and reproduction rates as compared to those of non-believers. There are also claims that religion evolved through a process of “group” selection, with the benefits of belief accruing to individuals because of their group membership. These claims compete with other explanations of religion that invoke evolution but not natural selection or that invoke cultural or social causes and do not invoke evolution or natural selection. At present, strong disciplinary divisions, along with partisan atttitudes, practically eliminate any meaningful comparison of them. ⸙
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(6,188 words)