Challenges in modeling local manifestations of a global template

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Of course, the theory is much more nuanced. For instance, the aspects of supernatural agents are not dichotomous but rather continuous and there might be different selection pressures on belief in moralizing gods, as discussed in Purzycki and Sosis’ book and their further writings (Bendixen & Purzycki, Citation2020; Purzycki, Willard, et al., Citation2022).2 For example, we may posit that the frequency of costly signals facilitating cooperation co-varies with exogenous socioecological pressures (Sosis et al., Citation2007). However, costly signals come in many forms (Barker et al., Citation2019; Lang et al., Citation2022), and these forms may be non-randomly distributed across socioecologies (Šaffa et al., Citation2022). While some religious systems may react to an exogenous threat with an increased frequency of traditional permanent markers (e.g., scarification), other systems may react with an increased frequency of traditional costly ritual performances that involve pain but no permanent markers. While responding to the same socio-ecological challenge, the systems are path-dependent and their response will have different down-stream consequences.