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Natural selection explains how cognitive mechanisms are adapted to their environments over evolutionary time, indicating that belief systems may also be subject to similar selective processes.

Variation is essential for the evolution of cognitive faculties, as it provides the material for selection, leading to diverse ways of thinking and problem-solving.

Adaptation in evolutionary epistemology suggests that our cognitive systems develop features beneficial for survival, influencing how beliefs are formed based on what is pragmatically useful.

Cognitive traits and belief systems may be passed down generations, implying that some ways of knowing could be more prevalent due to their historical success and acceptance.

This concept posits that organisms modify their environments, thereby shaping the selection pressures that act on their cognitive systems, influencing how new knowledge and beliefs are formed.

ESS refers to strategies that, once adopted by a population, cannot be invaded by alternative strategies; this provides a framework to understand the stability of certain belief systems over time.

In evolutionary epistemology, punctuated equilibrium can explain the rapid changes in cognitive frameworks or belief systems that occur in response to sudden, significant environmental changes.

Epistemic reliability is the idea that our cognitive systems are shaped to produce generally reliable beliefs, underlining the evolutionary benefit of accurate cognitive representations of the world.

Exaptation refers to a trait that has been co-opted for a use other than the one for which natural selection has built it, which can help explain how certain cognitive abilities may be repurposed for new kinds of problem-solving or belief formation.