Joseph Henrich, a professor at Harvard, maintains that we have become wealthy and successful because we’re Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD). Taking a historical approach, Henrich provides the formula for societies to out-perform other societies (and either defeat them or absorb them).
This 680-page book examines the ways countries can invest in their people to produce economies that generate wealth and power. Henrich shows how people who are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist, analytical, and trusting of strangers tend to succeed. Some societies require strict adherence to social norms and values. But time and time again, Henrich shows that people who focus on themselves–their special attributes, accomplishments, and aspirations–tend to be confident, progressive, and astute.
Henrich explores the differences in family structures, marriage, and religion that produce such different results. And, of course, the impact of markets on the economies of countries result in the wealth–or poverty–of nations.
If you’re the mood for a comprehensive Deep Dive into why the West dominates the world (although China is creeping up), give The WEIRDest People in the World a try. GRADE: A
Table of Contents:
Preface xi
Prelude: Your Brain Has Been Modified 3
What God Wants 7
The Histories of Religions, Biologies, and Psychologies 16
Part I The Evolution of Societies and Psychologies
1 WEIRD Psychology 21
Really, Who Are You? 24
Marshmallows Come to Those Who Wait 38
UN Diplomats Get Parking Tickets 41
Obsessed with Intentions 49
Missing the Forest 52
The Rest of the Iceberg 55
2 Making a Cultural Species 59
Evolved to Learn 61
Evolving Societies 68
Avenues into Your Mind 82
3 Clans, States, and Why You Can’t Get Here from There 87
How Ilahita Got Big 88
When, How, and Why Did Societies Scale Up? 103
Getting to Premodern States 112
Going End Around 121
4 The Gods Are Watching. Behave! 123
Moralizing Gods and Contingent Afterlives 128
The Evolution of Gods and Rituals 139
Hell, Free Will, and Moral Universalism 146
Persuasive Martyrs and Boring Rituals 148
The Launchpad 151
Part II The Origins of WEIRD People
5 WEIRD Families 155
Dissolving the Traditional Family 159
The Carolingians, Manoriaiism, and the European Marriage Pattern 186
Downstream Transformations 191
6 Psychological Differences, Families, and the Church 193
Kinship Intensity and Psychology 194
The Church Altered Kinship and Changed Psychology 224
Opening the Floodgates 230
7 Europe and Asia 233
The Church’s Footprints 234
Psychological Differences Within China and India 244
Fertile Ground 252
8 WEIRD Monogamy 255
A “Peculiar” institution 258
Polygyny’s Math Problem 263
A Testosterone Suppression System 268
Trust, Teamwork, and Crime 274
Putting the Pieces Together 281
Part III New Institutions, New Psychologies
9 Of Commerce and Cooperation 287
Market Integration and Impersonal Prosociality 290
“No Hui, No Market Towns” 301
The Commercial and Urban Revolutions 307
Round Up 320
10 Domesticating the Competition 322
War, Religion, and Psychology 322
Europeans Made War, and War Made Them WEIRDer 332
Taming Intergroup Conflict 340
When and Why? 350
Harnessing the Power of Competition 357
11 Market Mentalities 360
How Work Became Virtuous 367
Be Yourself: The Origins of WEIRD Personalities 379
It’s Big, but How Big? 390
Part IV Birthing the Modern World
12 Law, Science, and Religion 395
Universal Laws, Conflicting Principles, and Individual Rights 398
Representative Governments and Democracy 407
The WEIRDest Religion 415
Dark Matter or Enlightenment? 427
13 Escape Velocity 430
Wiring Up the Collective Brain 442
More Inventive? 460
Psychology and Innovation in the Modern World 465
Escaping the Trap 466
14 The Dark Matter of History 469
Guns, Germs, and Other Factors 474
Globalization and Its Discontents 484
Appendix A Milestones in the Marriage and Family Program 491
Appendix B Additional Plots 499
Appendix C The Psychological Impacts of Relational and Residential Mobility 501
Notes 507
Bibliography 585
Index 657
I’ll admit this sounds interesting, but you lost me at 680.
Michael, you’re going to roll your eyes that this statement…but THE WEIRDEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD was a quick read.
Finally, a book about WEIRD people that does not reference my family!
Jerry, a lot of people who know me think I’m WEIRD.
I think we are losing ground with the “more educated” adjective.
Patti, I agree with you on education. The Pandemic has damaged the learning prospects of most students at all levels. Many of our schools in Western NY are working on a “hybrid” model where students and teachers meet in a traditional classroom a couple days a week while “working” remotely via ZOOM the rest of the week. No one likes this mode of instruction.
Yeah, I’m with Michael – interesting, but pass. WEIRD is definitely a new acronym for me.
Bummer about the Bills. Better luck next time. I think the Chiefs will crush the Bucs. Brady self-destructed badly in the second half, but the Packers refused to take the win.
Jeff, Diane and I will be rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs to defeat Tom Brady and the Bucs. The Bills over-achieved this year and learned how far they need to go to measure up to the Chiefs.
Yawn!
Bob, I’m guessing that Custer book I sent you is more to your taste.
Much!