Psychology

The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous

The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous

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  • Create Date：2021-08-29 20:21:05
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
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  • Author：Joseph Henrich
  • ISBN：1250800072
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Reviews

Neil Pasricha ，

I discovered a new type of Book Relationship this month whereby you buy some gigantic， dense， information packed tome that’s just chock full of wild ideas， mind-expanding charts， and （in this case） deep anthropological insight and you … adopt it as a pet。 What do I mean？ Well， my friend Brian texted me a picture of this book and said “You need to read this！” and I bought it immediately。 I trust Brian。 He has good book recommendations。 And I learned that WEIRD stands for Western， Educated， Indust I discovered a new type of Book Relationship this month whereby you buy some gigantic， dense， information packed tome that’s just chock full of wild ideas， mind-expanding charts， and （in this case） deep anthropological insight and you … adopt it as a pet。 What do I mean？ Well， my friend Brian texted me a picture of this book and said “You need to read this！” and I bought it immediately。 I trust Brian。 He has good book recommendations。 And I learned that WEIRD stands for Western， Educated， Industrialized， Rich， and Democratic。 But then the book arrived and it was the size of a phone book with teeny font and I was just overwhelmed。 I knew the chances of me reading the book were small。 More likely it would sit on my shelf forever。 But， instead of either， I adopted the book as my pet。 I put it front-facing on my shelf， I left it on my desk， sometimes it had a nap beside me on my bed， and a few times （no joke） I left it under my desk， by my feet。 And what did I do with my pet？ Did I read it？ Well， not exactly。 I … petted it？ This metaphor may need work。 Basically， I used the giant Index as my guide and kept skimming till I found a word or topic or theme or person I found interesting and then I flipped into the book and read those four or five pages。 There is a lot in here about evolutionary biology， how we live， and giant macro trends around community， friendship， and kinship。 In total I probably read like 10% of the book but I pulled out so many ideas， notes， and quotes already。 10% doesn’t sound like much！ But it’s a lot more than nothing。 Good doggie。 。。。more

Erika RS ，

In The WEIRDest People in the World Joseph Henrich discusses how WEIRD nations — countries that are Western， Educated， Industrialized， Rich， Democratic — are psychologically， well， weird。 Various propensities that are assumed to be just human nature in the global west are， in fact， oddities globally。People in WEIRD countries are more focused on individualism and personal motivation。 They have higher levels of impersonal prosociality; they are more trusting of people and institutions they don't k In The WEIRDest People in the World Joseph Henrich discusses how WEIRD nations — countries that are Western， Educated， Industrialized， Rich， Democratic — are psychologically， well， weird。 Various propensities that are assumed to be just human nature in the global west are， in fact， oddities globally。People in WEIRD countries are more focused on individualism and personal motivation。 They have higher levels of impersonal prosociality; they are more trusting of people and institutions they don't know than most of the world。 They lean toward being more analytical。 They focus more on the foreground and demonstrate less holistic thinking。 How did that happen？ After establishing that WEIRD societies are， in fact， globally atypical， Henrich spends a while recapping The Secret of Our Success， his earlier book about cultural evolution。 The brief recap is that our genes， psychology， and societies have all coevolved with culture。 Culture changes us even as we change culture。 The story of WEIRD psychology kicks off with the early Christian Church， continuing with its Western branch and then Protestantism。 Before these institutions， Western Europe looked like most of the rest of the world。 As far as we can tell， society was primarily structured around kinship groups。 Kinship based societies stressed the importance of understanding and conforming to the social and normative structure imposed by kin networks。 These kin networks are relatively static and involuntary: people don't get to choose their kin network and don't have much control over their place in it。 Note that kinship based societies are not all small scale。 Large societies like those in the Middle East， Mediterranean， and Asia utilized structures which extended kinship-like social structures to larger and larger groups of people。 For example， religion was a key force which bonded unrelated people into "kin" groups。 In WEIRD societies， we see that family and kinship structures are much weaker。 We see these changes starting around 1000 CE as people in the areas that would become WEIRD started to marry relatives less， become more monogamous， and focused on individual ownership of property。 One of the key claims of the book is that weakening kinship ties are directly tied to the emergence of WEIRD psychology。 Because people cannot rely on kinship networks to tell if others are trustworthy and for social support， they had to rely on other means of trust building and support。 This led to the emergence of voluntary associations such as guilds， monasteries， universities， and eventually cities。 These institutions reinforced WEIRD psychological ideas such as individualism and analytical thinking。 Weak kinship networks and the institutions which evolved to replace them helped to drive psychological tendencies。Why were kinship ties weaker in Western Europe？ The other big claim of the book is that the cause was the marriage and family policies of the early Christian Church and continued with its Western branch。 The Church instituted a number of policies which had the effect of weakening kinship networks。 One of the biggest was preventing marriage between cousins; not just first cousins but also cousins to other degrees （that varied over time and by bishopric）。 When people could not marry cousins， kinship networks could not maintain the density they had in the past。 The Church also reduced practices which increased the number of children a man would have by requiring monogamy and putting restrictions on divorce and remarriage。 A complementary set of changes introduced by the Church was the introduction of personal inheritance。 Traditionally， property has belonged to kinship groups， not individuals。 Thus， individuals did not have the ability to dispose of property as they would。 Individual property rights weakened kin groups by allowing property to be distributed in ways that were not always advantageous to the kin group （e。g。， by giving it to the Church upon death）。Over time， these effects compounded leading to effects like couples moving away from their families and generally greater geographic mobility。 It also led people to seek out alternate networks of trust and support — the voluntary associations described above。 These changes also affected societal violence， the structure of markets， innovation， and more。 A greater focus on industriousness and analytical thinking along with a more diverse mixture of minds in cities led to innovation which eventually sparked the Industrial Revolution。 Not surprisingly， these changes were not simple cause and effect: as psychologies got more WEIRD， people started to change institutions in ways that reflected an increasing focus on individualism。 We see this in early precursors of democracy， such as voting on leadership of voluntary associations。 We also see it in the rise of Protestantism which focused on the individual's relationship with God。Why does this matter？ Is this just a curiosity satisfying tale of how we got here from there？ There are a couple of important consequences of this perspective of the cultural evolution of WEIRD psychology。 First， it forces those of us in WEIRD societies to acknowledge that we are the weird ones。 Those of us who are individualistic， socially mobile， disconnected from our families， analytically minded， more trusting of strangers， we are the odd ones out on a global scale。 Many of the things we take for granted — such as the idea that society should hold kin and strangers to the same moral standard or that strangers are useful trading partners — are not things that can generally be assumed about human societies。 The other consequence is that this perspective should make us more humble。 The evolution of Western society has brought about good things。 Innovation which has reduced hunger and disease。 We now have forms of governance which， despite their shortcomings， are still much more participative and equitable than in the past。 However， we need to acknowledge that while some of these innovations can be transmitted fairly easily， many build upon a psychological substructure。 Psychology takes generations to change， and when Western institutions or technologies are imposed on others rather than letting others adopt and adapt them， we often see failure。 One prominent example of this is the repeated failure of attempts to impose democracy in regions without properly accounting for the influence of tribal ties。 Henrich advances a multi-faced thesis。 It is almost certainly contains inaccurate details。 However， he weaves together a broad enough set of evidence that he makes a convincing case of the general thesis that the influence of the Church disrupted kinship networks in ways that affected psychology and influenced the shape of society。 。。。more

Adrielle Knight ，

This is an incredibly well-researched and well-written book， but very dense with data at times。 It takes a little grit to finish， but fascinating through and through！

Fernando Hoces de la Guardia ，

Very interesting and thorough explanation of how culture affects our biology and psychology。 Will probably have to read with more detail， but the one thing that makes me skeptic is that these sweeping theories of human behavior that account for much of our development should have a much higher bar of evidence。 It is not persuasive to me to focus on statistically significant results for a set of selected set of outcomes （probably ex-post）。 The more sweeping the theory is （e。g。 the Marriage and Fa Very interesting and thorough explanation of how culture affects our biology and psychology。 Will probably have to read with more detail， but the one thing that makes me skeptic is that these sweeping theories of human behavior that account for much of our development should have a much higher bar of evidence。 It is not persuasive to me to focus on statistically significant results for a set of selected set of outcomes （probably ex-post）。 The more sweeping the theory is （e。g。 the Marriage and Family Program of the church caused our brains to change and in turn drives much of our economic success today） the higher should be the bar to pass in terms of statistical significance and research design。 。。。more

Gauri A ，

An interesting read although drawn out in parts of a central premise - why the Western ， educated ， industrialised ， Rich and democratic world is psychologically different from the rest 。 Their cultural norms are far from any other human society and counterintuitive to many 。A few important reasons -1。 Sola scriptura - embedded deep in Protestantism is the notion that individuals should develop a one on one relation ship with God by reading the scriptures ， without interference from priests 。 Th An interesting read although drawn out in parts of a central premise - why the Western ， educated ， industrialised ， Rich and democratic world is psychologically different from the rest 。 Their cultural norms are far from any other human society and counterintuitive to many 。A few important reasons -1。 Sola scriptura - embedded deep in Protestantism is the notion that individuals should develop a one on one relation ship with God by reading the scriptures ， without interference from priests 。 This galvanised reading and education in the West and led to thicker corpus callosums （ link between prefrontal cortex and amygdala ） making for better verbal memory and poorer face recognition 。 Protestants have a hard work ethic - work is a sacred value for them 。 This further reinforced the industriousness of these societies 。 2。 WEIRD people look for universal categories and rules to organise the world and miss relationships between parts or categories 。 They are analytical not holistic 。 But they stick to impartial rules and principles and can be honest fair and trusting to strangers （ universal morality ） ， an important principle in understanding the growth of western trade and commerce （ impersonal prosociality） 。WEIRD people get fewer parking tickets and do not lie for friends in the Passengers Dilemma 。3。WEIRD Societies are driven by guilt not shame 。 There are no notions of honour ， rather guilt depends of one’s own standards and self evaluation while shame depends on societal standards and public judgement 4。 WEIRD societies are individualists and lack Kim based institutions 。 Most world societies channel people investment into kin ， clans etc 。 Which prevent them from shopping widely for spouses or business or there 。 Kin based institutions demand communal ownership of property ， Patrilocal residence and shared liability for criminal acts by members 。 These kin based institutions were broadly broken down by the Church’s family and marriage program in the West - that prevented relational marriages ， polygamy， set down tough incest Norms compelling people to look far and wide for spouses and enabled individual ownership and bequests of property 。 All these diluted kin bonds ，made patriarchs less relevant （ no freedom to make alliances through relational marriages ） ， made people individualistic and relationally mobile 。 From ruins of traditional social structures ， people began to form new voluntary associations based on shared interests or beliefs than kinships or tribal affiliations 。 Helps to understand why the ossified caste structures in India barred progress - because they utterly prevented a lack of social mobility ！ So Europe saw emergence of universities ， charter towns ， monasteries ， apprenticeship institutions ， knowledge societies etc 。 All of which grew the ‘ collective brain ‘ 5。 Very interestingly ， WEIRD people don’t have kin terminologies specific to relationships that societies with intensive kinship do like specific terms for mothers brother or fathers brother 。 6。 Polygamy creates a large pool of low status unmarried men with no prospects for marriage or sex 。 Explains the elevated testosterone levels and high crime rates 。 Even for married men ， the pull to seek more wives keeps testosterone levels elevated and prevents investment in current wife and children 。 7。 Many WEIRD people look for behavioural consistency across relationships 。 Other societies see behavioural flexibility as reflecting wisdom ， maturity and social adeptness 。 Societies with dense interdependent social connections regulate people and their behaviour in subtle powerful ways - snooping and control by elders is common 。 Successfully navigating these environments favours conformity ， deference to traditional authority and sensitivity to shame and collective orientation 。 When relational bonds are few ， an individuals success is defined by their individuality and ability to forge mutually beneficial relationships with strangers based on their own distinct traits 。 This society requires an individual to be individualistic ， more guilt than shame driven and iconoclastic for success 。6 。 Rituals can be thought of as mind hacks - that exploit bugs in our mental programs in subtle ways 。 They have synchrony ， goal oriented collaboration and rhythmic music all of which overlap others actions on to ours in the brain and we see them as not distinct from us 。。。more

Max ，

Book length case why it is completely fine to make out with your hot cousin: just proportionally decrease the intensity of other kin-based relationships and we can all stay WEIRD。Here's the basic causal sketch that Henrich fleshes out in the book:Christian church randomly stumbles on norms that undermine kinship intensity， e。g。 strict rules against cousin marriage and polygyny ↓ communities with norms that foster cooperation between unrelated people outcompete others， we see increasing individua Book length case why it is completely fine to make out with your hot cousin: just proportionally decrease the intensity of other kin-based relationships and we can all stay WEIRD。Here's the basic causal sketch that Henrich fleshes out in the book:Christian church randomly stumbles on norms that undermine kinship intensity， e。g。 strict rules against cousin marriage and polygyny ↓ communities with norms that foster cooperation between unrelated people outcompete others， we see increasing individualism， religiosity， normative conformity ↓impersonal markets develop （previously impossible due to kin-based cronyism）， urbanization happens， formal institutions and cities compete for people ↓Enlightenment， Industrial Revolution， DemocracyHere a more detailed synopsis from the book:I read this as part of a reading group and I found this book to continuously deliver interesting ideas and perspectives that expanded our perspective of human history。 Random parts that stood out to meHenrich makes a convincing case that patience or farsightedness regarding one's life is a key factor in the success of communities。 Another causal sketch:monogamy ➔ higher share of men have families and correspondingly a stake in success of the community ➔ increased patience ➔ possibility of long-term projects that rely on trust， people invest more in growthI liked the chapter on the development of the first larger markets。 Apparently it was pretty difficult to set up a place with a high concentration of valuable goods that wasn't at a significant risk to be robbed immediately。 He mentions an exemplary solution where the whole area surrounding the market was only allowed to be entered by women， with their male guards having to wait outside。 The general idea that markets and trade are tricky to set up and require pre-existing norms was new to me and seems important。 I could relate to the story about an individualistic/"shy" Matsigenka tribe from Peru:„The Matsigenka permits neither repression nor criticism。 Should someone， even the missionary whose moral authority he recognizes， try to orient， correct or prevent his behavior， he departs immediately with the phrase: ‘Here one can’t live; nothing but gossip and rumors; I’m going where no one will bother me and I will bother no one。’“ Why did this set of cultural norms develop？ Apparently， every tribe that wasn't individualistic and avoiding strangers was sooner or later enslaved by the Spanish colonialists。 Some open questions- why are the Catholic regions in the South of [[Germany]] significantly richer than the Protestant regions？ According to Henrich， Protestantism is associated with work ethic and Some criticism- he sometimes draws from studies that pain anyone familiar with the replication crisis， e。g。 many priming studies and the marshmallow test 。。。more

Zack Whitley ，

What a fascinating book。 I love authors， who can write about big ideas in an interesting and engaging way and that is just what Henrich does in this book。 Henrich says that the most important institutions in human societies have historically been kinship and religion。 But， starting in the middle ages in the Carolingian lands and in England， the Catholic church started to undermine the patrilineal kinship systems and this set off a chain of reactions or a series of events that created the modern What a fascinating book。 I love authors， who can write about big ideas in an interesting and engaging way and that is just what Henrich does in this book。 Henrich says that the most important institutions in human societies have historically been kinship and religion。 But， starting in the middle ages in the Carolingian lands and in England， the Catholic church started to undermine the patrilineal kinship systems and this set off a chain of reactions or a series of events that created the modern world: the rise of voluntary associations and a willingness to trust people you are not related to。 It's fascinating stuff。 Recommended。 。。。more

Jackie ，

It's a Big History that explains everything in one volume like Guns， Germs and Steel， but more focused on why the West rules， and with a thesis that I found more satisfying than Jared Diamond's。 The author is no historian; he's an anthropologist who studies cultural evolution， with a focus on how that intersects with psychology。 His premise: everything we know about human psychology， learned in lab experiments， is true of western brains but not of human nature in non-western societies， where peo It's a Big History that explains everything in one volume like Guns， Germs and Steel， but more focused on why the West rules， and with a thesis that I found more satisfying than Jared Diamond's。 The author is no historian; he's an anthropologist who studies cultural evolution， with a focus on how that intersects with psychology。 His premise: everything we know about human psychology， learned in lab experiments， is true of western brains but not of human nature in non-western societies， where people perform totally differently on the Marshmallow Test and the Conformity Test and lots of other famous psychology lab tasks。 His thesis: The West came to rule everyone else because it raised its children with unique psychological wiring （he caveats: anyone can adopt this for their offspring; it's nurtured， not racial）， and this psychology originally emerged in the West from the Catholic Church due to its medieval bans on polygamy and all forms of cousin marriages。 These rules caused European society to dissolve its clans and tribes that the rest of the world has and instead develop a structure around small nuclear families in non-related voluntary communities， and this social structure caused a rewiring of people's brains （toward trust of strangers， non-relational morality， individualism， eventually self-control， impartial justice， etc。）， all before the Printing Press and the Reformation and modern science and things。 The argument is carefully crafted and supported by reams and reams of data--it's almost 700 pages including the notes and bibliography--and is totally compelling。 I think this is the book other historians will be arguing about for the next 20 years to come。 Just a must-read。 。。。more

Boone Bradley ，

4-5 star interesting ideas。 2 star writing and a complete slog to get through。

Olya ，

Having slogged through 60-odd pages of the obvious and the meandering， written in a language verging on juvenile， I could not face another 600 of the same。 Someone get this weirdo an editor。

Keith Swenson ，

An interesting view of how much research is done on one particular kind of person， and there are so many different kinds of people out there。 A good book， but rated three stars because it might be considered esoteric or not particularly important。

Maclen Stanley ，

Wonderfully interesting topic。 Lots of very interesting tidbits and studies that make you think。 Leaving one star behind because， at times， and only during some sections， the content fell a bit flat and dull。 Had to push through a few chapters。 But， overall glad to have read！

BlackOxford ，

Words Are Eating Your BrainThere can’t be any doubt that the language we speak contributes to the way we perceive and judge the world。 The words we use are defined by other words， all of which have connotations and associations unique not just to the language but to particular subsets of language users。 This we call culture and feel justified in making the distinction between， say， European and Asian cultures in which attitudes toward and the meanings of things like trust， guilt， loyalty and rat Words Are Eating Your BrainThere can’t be any doubt that the language we speak contributes to the way we perceive and judge the world。 The words we use are defined by other words， all of which have connotations and associations unique not just to the language but to particular subsets of language users。 This we call culture and feel justified in making the distinction between， say， European and Asian cultures in which attitudes toward and the meanings of things like trust， guilt， loyalty and rationality （not to mention the rather broader topics of law， morality， science， god， etc。） vary enormously。This cultural variability is nothing new to science or popular knowledge。 Nor is the contribution that language makes in preserving cultural distinctions and practices。 What is new though， at least to me， is that language practices - particularly that of reading - have a marked effect on human physiology。 Reading actually changes the structure of the brain。 For example， among those populations that read “… verbal memories are expanding， face processing is shifting [to the] right [hemisphere of the brain] ， and corpus callosa are thickening—in the aggregate—over centuries。” Therefore， as literacy rates have increased in certain countries （mainly in the Northern hemisphere） over the last 500 years， language “has jury-rigged aspects of our genetically evolved neurological systems to create new mental abilities。” It is very much as if language itself has a life of its own and has infected the human species for use as the vector of its development。 So much for those AI theorists who put the conquest of technology over humanity some time in the future。 The fundamental technology we have is language。 And in a sense it has controlled human development from its arrival in the species。 We have quite literally been its tool as it carries out its neurological transformation。 Our brains are being re-wired constantly every time we open a book or read a billboard。Like a parasite that promotes self-serving behaviours in its host， language encourages “the value of ‘formal education’ or institutions such as ‘schools’—as well as technologies like alphabets， syllabaries， and printing presses。” Those with greater language-facility are more likely to ‘get ahead’ and rise to social roles of high repute。 Taking Henrich seriously， it becomes difficult not to think of language as an alien race come to enthral us for unknown ends。For me， these observations by Henrich， are wonderfully interesting， evocative， and stimulating。 But he goes on to bury them in mountains of rather passé and more than exceptionally boring details from hundreds of anthropological and ethnographic studies that do nothing but distract from the book’s key point - that language is physically reshaping us in ways we are only beginning to comprehend。 His paean to Western culture conveniently omits mention of its racism， misogyny， and violence。 Oh well， I suppose he has he academic reputation as well as popular street cred to consider。 Fortunately I do not。 。。。more

TheBookWarren ，

4。75 Stars — This nonfiction masterpiece is one I was put onto by the IMPECCABLE recommendations of The New York Times Book Review Podcast。 At this point all I can truly muster with any true succinct-brevity is… Bravo！！！Offering astonishing insights into the current Western World Psyche by delving into a deep-dive of a particular history， being the Western-Educated-Industrialised-Rich-Democratic。 This Psychology digest is a treasure trove of rich and deep research shared with sublime honesty and 4。75 Stars — This nonfiction masterpiece is one I was put onto by the IMPECCABLE recommendations of The New York Times Book Review Podcast。 At this point all I can truly muster with any true succinct-brevity is… Bravo！！！Offering astonishing insights into the current Western World Psyche by delving into a deep-dive of a particular history， being the Western-Educated-Industrialised-Rich-Democratic。 This Psychology digest is a treasure trove of rich and deep research shared with sublime honesty and detail whilst being written in a seldom-offered combination of frankness and anomalous that is breathtaking。Each chapter is another level of enriching reveals that is akin to unwrapping a giant pass-the-parcel one layer at a time without ever having to actually pass the parcel， instead keeping it for yourself and gauging on each layer of wonder slowly and assuredly。 Gaining insight into why the West is the west， what makes us so unique and WEIRDly composed due to hundreds of years of carefully forged path is a pleasure unlike almost any I’ve experienced whilst reading， certainly nonfiction。 So just do yourself a favour cus this is a dive-in-head-first kind of Novel you just have to experience yourself。 。。。more

Olivia Rowland ，

The basic premise is fine and seems well-supported， if not particularly interesting/engaging and repeated far too many times。My main problem with this book is the author’s huge oversight of the centrality of racism and imperialism to Western civilization （the “W” in WEIRD should stand for white supremacist， and the “I” for imperialist）。 In no way can psychology fully explain the domination of Western nations—you have to look to exploitation， genocide， and colonialism， which this author does not。 The basic premise is fine and seems well-supported， if not particularly interesting/engaging and repeated far too many times。My main problem with this book is the author’s huge oversight of the centrality of racism and imperialism to Western civilization （the “W” in WEIRD should stand for white supremacist， and the “I” for imperialist）。 In no way can psychology fully explain the domination of Western nations—you have to look to exploitation， genocide， and colonialism， which this author does not。 He goes so far as to suggest that countries in the global south are poor because their psychology does not match up with Western institutions。 Again， his failure to recognize the role of imperialism and white supremacy is incredibly offensive。 The book reads like propaganda for Western imperialism as a result。The book is also essentially about male psychology， which of course is treated as human psychology。 Even the parts of the book that focus on kinship and marriage look mainly at their public effects （trade， innovation， work， etc。） and not on domestic labor。 The author is incredibly heteronormative and talks about men and women in disturbingly naturalized ways。 The male silhouette on the cover should have warned me that this would be the case， but unfortunately I read the whole book anyway。 。。。more

Nathan Hoyt ，

Very interesting proposal on how the WEIRD group of people have come to be。 I found the proposition of just how much the church in Europe changed so much just by adjusting marriage norms。 The fallout was substantial。

Calvin Isch ，

A stunning thesis。 This one is critical for anyone interested in cultural evolution， how it shapes human though， and the historical factors that made the west what it is today！

Annette ，

Definitively an epic and very WEIRD - highly analytical， evidence based， comprehensive， wide ranging， and innovative。 Written in an academic way， it was a little slow to start and sometimes quite dense。 There were an attempts to summarise what he had just discussed in detail and to signpost what was coming but， to me， this created repetition。 There’s a lot in this book and it would have been good to read it slowly and stop to think through various ideas。 But it was due back at the library。

Marcel ，

I found this book to be a refreshing and most thought provoking piece on human culture and behaviour。 Whether the actual proposition is fully 'true' or not， seems to me less relevant。Don't get mw wrong， the proposition is exciting， feels logical is is exceedingly well presented and supported， and - I'm sure - Heinrich would be the first to agree that it is 'just' one further building block to our understanding human psychology and culture and further research is required。But what makes this such I found this book to be a refreshing and most thought provoking piece on human culture and behaviour。 Whether the actual proposition is fully 'true' or not， seems to me less relevant。Don't get mw wrong， the proposition is exciting， feels logical is is exceedingly well presented and supported， and - I'm sure - Heinrich would be the first to agree that it is 'just' one further building block to our understanding human psychology and culture and further research is required。But what makes this such an outstanding book for me， is that it shines a light on our （WEIRD or specifically western people's） bias that how we see the world， how we define good and bad， right or wrong， is not - by definition - right or the best point of view， nor did it come to be based on rational reasoning （as we are frequently told in school） but is just yet another way of organic cultural evolution， and thus just another （and in fact， quite rare） type of culture that 'just' evolved。。。Where this becomes practically relevant is when we have to interact with people form other cultures， and when we think about ethical and moral frameworks。 Be this as individuals or in professional capacity as， say， members of a company or politicians。In the 21st century world we have to be exceedingly aware of not only how culture and society evolves and how human beings behave and that this is a mix of nature and nurture， but more so， maybe， we must be aware of the biases we are all subject to。。。。This books puts a spotlight on all theses aspects （which， again， makes this implicit message maybe more relevant than the actual model proposed）。。。 。。。more

Noah Graham ，

Many words per idea， some of the ideas such as， representive government being impossible without weakening family ties， being demonstrativebly untrue。 It's possible however that these ideas were true but incomplete as members of my book club suggested （I。e representing governments worked but they weren't true democracies） however in that case he really should have spent more of the book explaining these and less repeating himself。 Many words per idea， some of the ideas such as， representive government being impossible without weakening family ties， being demonstrativebly untrue。 It's possible however that these ideas were true but incomplete as members of my book club suggested （I。e representing governments worked but they weren't true democracies） however in that case he really should have spent more of the book explaining these and less repeating himself。 。。。more

Max ，

I'd say this a low-key racist book， masquerading as an antiracist book。 If you were to just read the back cover and the introduction， you'd think that it is about how Western society is different in a way that's not necessarily better; but fear not， white readers， because once you get a bit deeper the author articulates a series of big history explanations about how Western societies are indeed superior to all others。 As you go， you'll also get to hear confident assertions about the personality I'd say this a low-key racist book， masquerading as an antiracist book。 If you were to just read the back cover and the introduction， you'd think that it is about how Western society is different in a way that's not necessarily better; but fear not， white readers， because once you get a bit deeper the author articulates a series of big history explanations about how Western societies are indeed superior to all others。 As you go， you'll also get to hear confident assertions about the personality traits of various tribes and ethnic groups， and even a bit of neo-eugenics， with the superiority of the Western elite brain due not to biological differences but to cultural differences such as a lifetime of reading。 。。。more

Paige ，

Did not actually finish。 It was just too academic in style。 The content is fascinating but for something marketed for popular culture like this seems to be， it wasn’t narrative or even ever abbreviated。 Every detail had to be included - hard for a non-academic layman like myself to enjoy。

Sehar Moughal ，

Sigh。 According to Henrich， WEIRD people are more patient， feel more guilt than shame， have more self-control and so on。 In comparison， non-WEIRD people are less patient， have more shame and less to no self-control。 Henrich's writing reminds of Harari's: making gross generalisations， misinterpreting research and presenting biased arguments。 For example， Henrich discusses research around self-control: If you were to present a choice to a person that either they accept $100 right now， or $140 （or Sigh。 According to Henrich， WEIRD people are more patient， feel more guilt than shame， have more self-control and so on。 In comparison， non-WEIRD people are less patient， have more shame and less to no self-control。 Henrich's writing reminds of Harari's: making gross generalisations， misinterpreting research and presenting biased arguments。 For example， Henrich discusses research around self-control: If you were to present a choice to a person that either they accept $100 right now， or $140 （or something） a year later， results show that a WEIRD person will choose $140 in a years time while a non-WEIRD person will choose $100 demonstrating that WEIRD people have more self-control than non-WEIRD people。 WTF？ Dear Henrich: Have you ever had to beg for money because you did not have enough to eat？ I bet not。 It isn't that non-WEIRD people have no self-control - just that your ancestors fucked us up royally。 Henrich dismisses that a person's behaviour is shaped by their environment。 Oh no， that cannot be true。 Because if it was， Henrich would have to discuss how/why the environment of WEIRD vs non-WEIRD people differ so much。 Instead， he is happy dishing out adjectives under the guise of personality。 What he means is that a non-WEIRD person will always have/be less: self-control， patient。 Discounting a ton load of painful history。 No， you are right， Mr Henrich。 I have a gene that makes me very impatient。 And I have no patience to read the rest of your book。 A better book would be Guns， Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond （or so I hear）。And if you have enjoyed this bookor accept the research discussedyou have very limited perspective taking skills。 So tired of this privilege。 。。。more

Chev Chelios ，

Took me some months to finish this book - but many insights will stay with me。Henrich shares lots and lots of Ideas with evidence how kinship and cultural instituions change peoples psychology。 Here and there you learn a lot about social status， religion， all kinds of societal fields。A thought provoking book， enriching everyday musings about humans on this planet and their interactions。

Laurent Franckx ，

It's difficult to believe that Henrich's previous book https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。 was really just a side project， given how ambitious it was in its claims and scope。Henrich's main research topic is however the study of WEIRD people: Western， Educated， Industrialized， Rich and Democratic。 The starting point for this research agenda was the realization that a lot of empirical psychological research is based on the observation of college students in American。 For a long time， it was j It's difficult to believe that Henrich's previous book https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。 was really just a side project， given how ambitious it was in its claims and scope。Henrich's main research topic is however the study of WEIRD people: Western， Educated， Industrialized， Rich and Democratic。 The starting point for this research agenda was the realization that a lot of empirical psychological research is based on the observation of college students in American。 For a long time， it was just assumed that the results obtained in this context would be representative for the psychology of humanity as a whole。 Anthropological research increasingly disputes this claim - it may well be that the WEIRD psychology is the exception， rather than the rule。 The ambition of Henrich is to not just describe how the psychology of WEIRD people differs from the psychology of the rest of the world。 He also discusses how this affect the economic and political institutions of societies， and attempts to explain the historical processes that have led to the emergence of the WEIRD psychology。This ambition is what makes the book so hugely interesting， but it is also its Achilles heel; when social scientists set out to develop bold theories of human society， they are sure to attract a lot of flack as well。My knowledge of empirical psychological research is too limited to evaluate Henrich's claim about the exceptionalism of WEIRD psychology， but it is a thesis I have seen before coming from reputable thinkers。 His claim about the impact of WEIRD psychology on economic and political systems is also broadly in line with the literature I am aware of。 Henrich does for instance not dispute the critical role played by intellectual openness and curiosity （think of Joel Mokyr）， by the rule of the law， or by interstate competition within Europe as determinants of the industrial revolution。 Rather， he sees those factors as the result of a WEIRD psychology， whose origins can be traced back to centuries earlier。 And it's there that Henrich's thesis becomes really bold; he claims that it is the Catholic church's teachings on marriage and inheritance that were the catalyst for a breakdown in traditional kinship relations， and those facilitated the emergence of attitudes that facilitated capitalism。I will leave up to the reader to evaluate the credibility of the argument。 Henrich is well aware that his thesis is bound to stir controversy， and he provides careful and detailed empirical evidence in its defense。Still， the reader is left with questions， the most important being the obvious: what if Henrich has left out confounding variables？ Given that a lot of the statistical evidence is based on data from the Middle Ages， it doesn't seem far fetched to think to Henrich has left out some historical factors that were difficult to measure， or that there is a lot of noise in the observations that he does use？（The one thing that bothered me the most is that Henrich mostly ignores the role that the Roman and Greek antiquity may have played）。This being said， whether you are convinced by the argument or not， this remains a very important work， and you will gain a lot from reading it。 。。。more

Rick H ，

6 months！ It took me 6 months to finish this flabby book。 Yo editors you needed to trim some big jiggly fat on this one。 The book’s thesis is that a handful of cultural developments in Europe led to a population with psychological traits that would give us modern western liberal capitalist democracies of today。 The author supposes that In 1500 an unbiased visitor to various societies - Chinese， Muslim， Indian， and European - would not have picked Europe as the likely progenitor of the scientific 6 months！ It took me 6 months to finish this flabby book。 Yo editors you needed to trim some big jiggly fat on this one。 The book’s thesis is that a handful of cultural developments in Europe led to a population with psychological traits that would give us modern western liberal capitalist democracies of today。 The author supposes that In 1500 an unbiased visitor to various societies - Chinese， Muslim， Indian， and European - would not have picked Europe as the likely progenitor of the scientific and industrial revolutions。 The book lays out these cultural developments - starting with church prohibitions on cousin marriage， the development of impersonal markets， the rise of voluntary associations like guilds， monasteries and charter towns in a mix of history and survey results。 This is an interesting story and some of the evidence the author uses to show how these changes also cause psychological changes is kinda cool。 But much of the evidence for how Europeans are psychologically WEIRD is wayyyyyy sketchy。 A lot of times psychological evidence comes in the results of experiments where people from hunter-gather groups play psych lab games。 It never is really clear to my why these games aren’t played by people from the societies the author is trying to compare Europe to but as someone who’s spent many a round of complex board games constantly asking for rule and purpose reminders I just gotta say you need to take the game evidence with a truckload of salt。 The fact that social scientists make big conclusions based on the outcomes of these games is sorta scary to me。 The use of the WEIRD acronym for European psychological norms was probably marketing genius - it sidesteps critiques about cultural hierarchies but I don’t think anyone is fooled into thinking that the author doesn’t see these psychological traits as beneficial。 The psychological makeup of societies and how this impacts cultural change is an interesting story so this got me through the tough slog of finishing this book - I just have big reservations about the facts the author uses to make this a scientific story。 。。。more

Madeline Zimmerman ，

This is a really important and creative book， but you can skip to the last 100 pages unless you want to read a summary of every economic study that supports Henrich's arguments。 I'm being a little glib， but the first 400 pages are mainly of interest only if you're an academic or super into cultural evolution and economic experiments。 Henrich convincingly makes the astounding argument that the casual chain that led to WEIRD societies （e。g。， everything about our Western lifestyle and what has made This is a really important and creative book， but you can skip to the last 100 pages unless you want to read a summary of every economic study that supports Henrich's arguments。 I'm being a little glib， but the first 400 pages are mainly of interest only if you're an academic or super into cultural evolution and economic experiments。 Henrich convincingly makes the astounding argument that the casual chain that led to WEIRD societies （e。g。， everything about our Western lifestyle and what has made the West successful） originated with the Roman Catholic Church creating a set of marriage and family policies that demolished Europe's intensive kin-based institutions。 Hundreds of years later， the amount of cousin-marriage allowed in different parts of a given country can be causally linked to different economic outcomes。 Wow。 。。。more

Jeremy ，

Conceptually， this book takes over where the main validity of Guns， Germs and Steel ends， somewhere around 1000 CE。 GG&S's argument for biogeographical reasons only takes you so far。 Henrich focuses "on the evolution of institutions related to 1） intensive kinship， 2） impersonal markets and urbanization， 3） competition among voluntary associations， and 4） complex divisions of labor with substantial individual mobility。""The sect of Christianity that evolved into the Roman Catholic Church stumble Conceptually， this book takes over where the main validity of Guns， Germs and Steel ends， somewhere around 1000 CE。 GG&S's argument for biogeographical reasons only takes you so far。 Henrich focuses "on the evolution of institutions related to 1） intensive kinship， 2） impersonal markets and urbanization， 3） competition among voluntary associations， and 4） complex divisions of labor with substantial individual mobility。""The sect of Christianity that evolved into the Roman Catholic Church stumbled onto a collection of marriage and family policies that demolished Europe's intensive kin-based institutions。 This grassroots transformation of social life propelled these populations down a previously inaccessible pathway of societal evolution and opened the door to the rise of voluntary associations， impersonal markets， free cities， and so on。。。By the High Middle Ages， the social and psychological shifts induced by the Church had made some European communities susceptible to notions of individual rights， personal accountability， abstract principles， universal laws， and the centrality of mental states。 This fertilized the psychological soil for the growth of representative governments， constitutional legitimacy， and individualistic religious faiths as well as the rise of Western law and science。 These changes changes accelerated the ongoing social and psychological transformations that energized innovation and economic growth。"Our species has historically been anchored in kin-based institutions， meaning life evolved around a tight group of relations。 As new and diverse religions gained steam， new opportunities for cultural evolution developed。 Some religions allowed or even encouraged marriage to close relations， think cousin-marriage。 Some also allowed or encouraged men to marry multiple women。 Eventually， "one strain of Christianity stumbled upon a peculiar set of taboos， prohibitions， and prescriptions regarding marriage and the family that eventually crystallized into" what Henrich calls the "Church's Marriage and Family Program"。 These prohibitions and prescriptions eventually "altered people's social lives and psychology by demolishing intensive kin-based organizations。 These changes would have favored a psychology that was more individualistic， analytically oriented， guilt-ridden， and intention-focused （in judging others） but less bound by tradition， elder authority， and general conformity。"Henrich argues that Protestantism ultimately led to our WEIRD societies （he often makes the point that WEIRD is right， our norms are different than non-WEIRD norms and different from the way we used to be）。 The Protestant emphasis on reading changed WEIRD brains。 But the largest effect seems to stem from new marriage norms - having a choice in marriage， monogamy， not marrying relatives， moving away from home after marriage， etc。 This helped result in the points made in the paragraphs above。Interestingly， monogamy is quite WEIRD in the history of our species and even today。 There is a really interesting chapter covering this。 Polygynous marriages may have favored women （this may be arguable， but perhaps objectively） because multiple women could marry the most elite and successful men who had the best chance of providing for these women。 This left non-elite men without women to marry， and led （and continues to lead） to these men committing more crimes and being more violent because they never get married （marriage seems to cause lower testosterone）。 Monogamy leaves more women for the less elite men and can result in more stable societies because there are less angry men running around。Henrich has another interesting chapter on our species susceptibility to belief in gods。 The development of mentalizing abilities in our species （the ability to mentally represent the mind of a being one never observes）， coupled with our heavy reliance on cultural learning， can lead to a faith instinct。 We have a further tendency towards dualism - thinking of minds and bodies as separable and potentially independent。 This makes people susceptible to belief in ghosts， spirits， and an afterlife where the soul departs for heaven。 Of course mind-body separations are impossible， but it seems all cultures believe in this possibility。There is so much here， I'm just trying to highlight the main argument and a few points I found particularly interesting。 Overall， WEIRD societies are in fact the exception， we are the weird ones。 Concepts that seem obvious or "right" to us are a result of our cultural learning and are not necessarily objective。 For example， if you have the ability to lie about something and gain some money as a result， WEIRD people are less inclined to be dishonest， while kin-based people may cheat and think that was the right thing to do， because they are getting more money to help their family。 The book has a better example of this than me， but perhaps my point comes through。This was not the most enjoyable book to read， as there was a little too much detail on the plethora of studies he describes。 I would have rather had more of that stuff in Appendices and had him get to the point a little more。 But this is certainly a very important book and I'm looking forward to more development of his ideas or any challenges。 。。。more

Sara Anne ，

Really fascinating and thorough research！ Deducting a star just bc of how long it was and it dragged a little in the middle

David Kelly ，

Interesting take on why western European culture and psychology drove modern progress Author presented Interesting， well-supported arguments but too often over-explained points。 Sometimes ignored alternate explanations for cultural evolution。 For example， no mention of Greek philosophy or practice when discussing the evolution of democracy。