Blurb:

Chapter 8 contrasts byproduct and adaptationist accounts of religion and engages with some of the studies that have sought to evaluate these accounts. We expand on our discussion of signaling within religious communities and show its importance in understanding the adaptive benefits of religion. We also advance our analysis of religion as a system, arguing that by conceiving of religion as a system we can avoid the unproductive debates about whether religion is an adaptation or byproduct.