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This book argues that religion has emerged over evolutionary time
as a strategy for managing the transmission, contraction, and
eradication of infectious disease. From purity and pollution codes
to blood sacrifices and irrational beliefs, the book shows how
religion supports not only the physiological immune system, but the
behavioral and psychological immune systems as well. The book also
addresses those moments when it appears that religion becomes
maladaptive, that is, when religion causes “autoimmune
problems,” such as celibacy and anti-vaccination. Engaging
material ranging from evolutionary and social psychology to human
behavioral ecology, biological anthropology, Darwinian medicine,
and religious studies, the book proposes that in order to
understand the human animal’s enduring fascination with religion,
one must take into account the enduring need to manage infectious
disease.
This book argues that religion has emerged over evolutionary time
as a strategy for managing the transmission, contraction, and
eradication of infectious disease. From purity and pollution codes
to blood sacrifices and irrational beliefs, the book shows how
religion supports not only the physiological immune system, but the
behavioral and psychological immune systems as well. The book also
addresses those moments when it appears that religion becomes
maladaptive, that is, when religion causes “autoimmune
problems,” such as celibacy and anti-vaccination. Engaging
material ranging from evolutionary and social psychology to human
behavioral ecology, biological anthropology, Darwinian medicine,
and religious studies, the book proposes that in order to
understand the human animal’s enduring fascination with religion,
one must take into account the enduring need to manage infectious
disease.
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