The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
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- Author：Joseph Henrich
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Summary
Harvard University's Joseph Henrich， Chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology， delivers a bold， epic investigation into the development of the Western mind， global psychological diversity， and its impact on the world
Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western， Educated， Industrialized， Rich， and Democratic。 If so， you're rather psychologically peculiar。
Unlike much of the world today， and most people who have ever lived， WEIRD people are highly individualistic， self-obsessed， control-oriented， nonconformist， and analytical。 They focus on themselves--their attributes， accomplishments， and aspirations--over their relationships and social roles。 How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct？ What role did these psychological differences play in the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe during the last few centuries？ Did these differences have an impact on the development of the laws， economic systems， and governments that now dominate the world？
In W。E。I。R。D。 Minds， Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology， psychology， economics， and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more。 He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures， marriage， and religion， and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology。 Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity， Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church。 It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets， occupational specialization， and free competition--laying the foundation for the modern world。
Provocative and engaging in both its broad scope and its surprising details， W。E。I。R。D。 Minds explores how culture， institutions， and psychology shape one another， and explains what this means for both our most personal sense of who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social， political， and economic forces that drive human history。
Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western， Educated， Industrialized， Rich， and Democratic。 If so， you're rather psychologically peculiar。
Unlike much of the world today， and most people who have ever lived， WEIRD people are highly individualistic， self-obsessed， control-oriented， nonconformist， and analytical。 They focus on themselves--their attributes， accomplishments， and aspirations--over their relationships and social roles。 How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct？ What role did these psychological differences play in the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe during the last few centuries？ Did these differences have an impact on the development of the laws， economic systems， and governments that now dominate the world？
In W。E。I。R。D。 Minds， Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology， psychology， economics， and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more。 He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures， marriage， and religion， and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology。 Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity， Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church。 It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets， occupational specialization， and free competition--laying the foundation for the modern world。
Provocative and engaging in both its broad scope and its surprising details， W。E。I。R。D。 Minds explores how culture， institutions， and psychology shape one another， and explains what this means for both our most personal sense of who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social， political， and economic forces that drive human history。
Reviews
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
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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
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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
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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
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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。
Steve 'Rat'
，
The term "cousin marriage" appears almost two hundred times in this book。 Don't let that distract you。 At first it also feels like a lot of common sense ground is being covered （this is separate from the cousin marriage thing）。 Get past that。 The author has a lot of great， well-supported points about how everyone you know is not normal。 Not in a "they like Claypool-Lennon" sort of way， but more in a "they take way too much comfort in what most of human society would consider hoarding" sort of wa The term "cousin marriage" appears almost two hundred times in this book。 Don't let that distract you。 At first it also feels like a lot of common sense ground is being covered （this is separate from the cousin marriage thing）。 Get past that。 The author has a lot of great， well-supported points about how everyone you know is not normal。 Not in a "they like Claypool-Lennon" sort of way， but more in a "they take way too much comfort in what most of human society would consider hoarding" sort of way。 。。。more
The_J
，
How do you explain humanity？ Are we individuals or trapped within the confines of family， tribe， or random group。 Western Science invented Psychology， but this treatise argues against universality， and that Westerners are literally weird （aberrant members of of humanity）。 Intensive research shows support for the theory， and how subversive Christianity broke the clan， with each step being more revolutionary: Orthodox less than Catholics less than Protestants。 Perhaps the atomization of soul crush How do you explain humanity？ Are we individuals or trapped within the confines of family， tribe， or random group。 Western Science invented Psychology， but this treatise argues against universality， and that Westerners are literally weird （aberrant members of of humanity）。 Intensive research shows support for the theory， and how subversive Christianity broke the clan， with each step being more revolutionary: Orthodox less than Catholics less than Protestants。 Perhaps the atomization of soul crushing nihilism and atheism is the final step。 Hundreds of pages， citations galore， but a significant investment of time and attention。 。。。more
Stephen
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When this book first came out， I was really excited about it; god-knows where I heard about it first！ Had to wait a while for it to filter into my reach。 In the meantime， I read reviews about it and even watched the author speak on PBS， or some 'highbrow' public channel like that。 Very strange behavior for me， someone who normally only gets excited about books while reading them， or after。In any case， I am a lover of Jared Diamond's ideas espoused in "Guns， Germs， and Steel，" and I see this book When this book first came out， I was really excited about it; god-knows where I heard about it first！ Had to wait a while for it to filter into my reach。 In the meantime， I read reviews about it and even watched the author speak on PBS， or some 'highbrow' public channel like that。 Very strange behavior for me， someone who normally only gets excited about books while reading them， or after。In any case， I am a lover of Jared Diamond's ideas espoused in "Guns， Germs， and Steel，" and I see this book as a sort of complement to Diamond's。 Henrich goes a step further than Diamond's bio/geographic determinism though and brings us from around 1000 AD to the present。 He also offers convincing explanations of why it was Europe instead of the Islamic World， India， or China which rose to the forefront of scientific， militaristic， financial， and technologic advancement in recent centuries。 All societies which according to Diamond should have equally shared in Eurasias's extended latitudinal opportunities for plant and animal domestication， and therefore similar chances for world domination。Henrich argues that it was first the Catholic Church's strange practices of reducing the power of extended kin-groups in Europe and then various other protestanty-based ideals which further changed the social psychology of Europeans。 And then how the habits of European social psychology bore fruit by encouraging higher rates of education， technological advancement， sharing with strangers， trust in non-related others， etc。 I love how he repeatedly uses the word 'stumbled' to explain the Church's practices because it is hard to see how this could have possibly been a concerted effort centuries before the practices could even begin to be shown to shape society。 It reminds me that for most of human history various organised religions have been the major meme-bags from which people advanced or distinguished themselves from others。 So stumbled-upon seems justified here。 So glad we don't have to find a new religion in order to justify playing with a new meme at present！ Thoroughly a book to read for the ideas within。As for the writing style， it's a bit janky and hard-to-read。 One chapter gives a summary of group psychology experiments on 'WEIRD' people vs more 'average' （historically as well as numerically speaking） people， and the next chapter is a broadly-viewed historical narrative spanning continents and/or centuries at a time。 I know the basis of the book is the group psych。 experiments and the resultant differences they uncover - compared to customary psychology experiments which assume that human psychology is universal and that WEIRD people can be stand-ins for whomever。 But damn， my eyes glossed over on a lot of that！ I'm not a statistician， nor a psychologist， and I wish I didn't have to dig through all that to get to the ideas within Henrich's book。 The gross historical summaries were much more my style， they even had a good flow。 I should note too， that Henrich's humor and humility come out in his end-notes。 They frequently gave me a chance to regroup and re-energise。 I did like the book， and I'll be chewing on Henrich's ideas for a good-while now。 I'll also be spending my free time looking up maps of where Huguenots were thickest in France， what it means to be a Unitarian， and maybe even juicy， over-long sociology articles on East-asia's recent wholesale adoption of Western kin-bashing practices。 Who knew monogamy could be so interesting？ 。。。more
Jake Cannon
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A stunning achievement of a book。
Robert
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Guns， germs & Steel for social scientists and English majors。
Ben
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I cannot recommend this book highly enough。 Magisterial but still a pleasure to read。 It has changed how I think。
JUSTIN JOS
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This book took me a while and therefore the review comes a bit late。 The COVID-19 situation in India， my own PhD examinations had taken a bit of toll。 However， here is the review: This book is very detailed and covers so many important facets of psychological variations between WEIRD & non-WEIRD populations。 WEIRD means White， Educated， Industrialized， Rich and Democratic。 Most of the contemporary Western countries are WEIRD。 The author contends that the reason for the same is the continual hist This book took me a while and therefore the review comes a bit late。 The COVID-19 situation in India， my own PhD examinations had taken a bit of toll。 However， here is the review: This book is very detailed and covers so many important facets of psychological variations between WEIRD & non-WEIRD populations。 WEIRD means White， Educated， Industrialized， Rich and Democratic。 Most of the contemporary Western countries are WEIRD。 The author contends that the reason for the same is the continual historical diminishing of intensive kin relationships which is witnessed through declining cousin marriages and the loosening of the Church's grip。 Well this is one facet of the book。 Other parts include the higher innovation and entrepreneurship skills expressed through the rise in neo-local residency， higher sense of individualism and the lack of shame while increase of guilt。 The statements and claims advanced by the book is so true in my own personal experience。 When I first went to a Western country， the United States of America， I realized how individualism was the norm for people。 No one was judged for having an unhealthy diet， no moral policing and almost no interference in others lives。 Whereas， in India， people live through others i。e， with a strong sense of community。 This book reminded me that the reason why people in the West are WEIRD is not that my cultural psychology is different but it is more because they are WEIRD。 Most of the world lives and thinks like me。 For example， if I fail my PhD I will bring shame to my family as I failed a life goal。 Whereas， a person with a WEIRD psychology， would definitely not feel shame but more guilt。 That person would feel guilty for not trying hard。 However， it is not the author's case that the world is divided between WEIRD and non-WEIRD。 These are just way of expressing differences in psychology。 The more probing question was how did this change in psychology affected the WEIRD folks。 The author cites evidence that it has resulted in innovation， diffusion of skills， egalitarian societies and representative democracy。 This is especially true in case of differentialy impacted communities or groups。 A woman in India is not nearly as free as a woman in Australia from sexual violence。 I am not WEIRD but if I live long enough in WEIRD countries， I can safely predict that my offspring shall imbibe WEIRD personality traits。 Wondering if I am pseudo WEIRD having lived for a while in WEIRD societies？ 。。。more
M。 M。 Al-Fahmi
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Interesting theories and insights on the western social evolution。 Most of his intriguing theories is the influence of the church， from the perspective that it destroyed kinship within medieval Europe， by prohibitions of cousin marriage that forced people to marry beyond their families， and consequently became more receptive to strangers。 Interesting social engineering！
Julie
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Lots to think about and ponder on。 I wish I had read this for a class。 It would be great to spread out the dense reading material for a semester and have people to discuss the book with。 It really did remind me of a textbook at times。The fact that at times it read like a textbook is the reason for 4 stars and not 5。 Henrich is a brilliant man and excellent researcher but his writing style and structure was sometimes dry and repetitive。 He's aiming for regular readers， not scholarly， I presume， a Lots to think about and ponder on。 I wish I had read this for a class。 It would be great to spread out the dense reading material for a semester and have people to discuss the book with。 It really did remind me of a textbook at times。The fact that at times it read like a textbook is the reason for 4 stars and not 5。 Henrich is a brilliant man and excellent researcher but his writing style and structure was sometimes dry and repetitive。 He's aiming for regular readers， not scholarly， I presume， and the book didn't flow as well as it could have。I learned SO MUCH from this book。 I wish it were more popular。 It's a terrible title for a book and the cover design isn't very good either。 If it hadn't been recommended to me， I wouldn't have picked it up at a bookstore or library。 Yes， sometimes I do judge a book by it's cover。I don't even know how to begin summarizing his thesis。 I'd be writing for days。 I guess the very simple version is that it all boils down to kin relationships。 If you live in a country where it's common for cousins to marry， for arranged marriages， for polygamy then you will have a different psychological make up from an American or European。Some parts of the book that stood out for me:In Africa， regions that had more Protestant missionaries than Catholic， have - a century later - higher literacy rates。The spread of the Protestant belief that every individual should read the Bible for themselves led to broad-based literacy that altered people's cognitive abilities in domains related to memory， visual processing， facial recognition， problem solving and numerical exactness。The West is approach oriented/ about starting new relationships and meeting people。Non-westerners are avoidance oriented/ want to minimize their chances of appearing deviant， avoiding disharmony and avoiding bringing shame upon the familyWest feels guilt and Non-west feels shame Cumulative cultural evolution means that over generations it generates increasingly sophisticated learning from others far superior to anything one single individual could possibly figure out on their own。 （We aren't having to reinvent the wheel every generation。 Instead we build upon the past knowledge）Chronic conflicts in Africa are related to their focus on kin based relationships/segmentary lineages like the Dinka and Nuer tribes in the SudanIn the West， kin based institutions were weakened by the Roman Catholic Church and that dissolution was the start of the European modern worldIn parts of Africa and the Middle East， 25% of marriages are between cousins。 In some countries it's 50% of marriages。 In the USA， it's 。2%90% of Christians trace their descent through Roman Catholicism， not other Christian sects like Coptic， Syrian， Arian， Armenian， etcOMG and this is information just from the first few chapters！ There is SO MUCH in this book。 It's worth the long amount of time it took to read it。 。。。more
Jeremy W Martin
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Interesting read。 Lots of science and studies to black argument and conclusions。 A boot long and dry at parts but worth the read。 Helps you understand your own culture a bit more and others。 Especially helpful did you work in a multinational organization or business。
Beth Melillo
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3。5？ Thought provoking and really enjoyed the ideas。 The graphs were fascinating too and I felt the maps added to it。 But needed a heavier edit for readability and to reduce the density of many chapters。 In particular the section on the marriage and family program of the catholic church was twice as long as it needed to be。
Peter Tillman
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