Once and again, I have experienced heated debates whether "religion" qualifies as an adaptation, an exaptation or "only" as an epiphenomenon. The problem is: Although religion may be described as behaviour towards supernatural agents, there is no consensus available about the exact meaning of the other, biological terms. In fact, most of these cloudy discussions turn out to be rather ideological and emotional debates without much empirical foundation. For anyone really interested in evolutionary science, it is high time to proceed beyond!

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Some days ago, I got another visit from Ara Norenzayan, professor in social psychology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. While he valiantly survived my pizza (sorry for my cooking, Ara :-) ), we eagerly exchanged and debated news, studies and theories about the evolution of religiosity and religions. I thoroughly enjoyed the day! And as Ara's Sabbatical just ended, we are about to read some exciting studies in the near future!

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