The WEIRDest People in the World

How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous

By: Joseph Henrich

Narrated by: Korey Jackson

Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

A bold, epic account of how the co-evolution of psychology and culture created the peculiar Western mind that has profoundly shaped the modern 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?

In The WEIRDest People in the World, 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, The WEIRDest People in the World 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Joseph Henrich (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"A fascinating, vigorously argued work that probes deeply into the way “WEIRD people” think." (Kirkus)

"Joseph Henrich has undertaken a massively ambitious work that explains the transition to the modern world from kin-based societies, drawing on a wealth of data across disciplines that significantly contributes to our understanding of this classic issue in social theory." (Francis Fukuyama, author of The Origins of Political Order and Political Order and Political Decay)

"Ambitious and fascinating...This meaty book is ready-made for involved discussions." (Publisher's Weekly)

The answer may be literally WEIRD

If you’ve ever wondered how Western culture, language, and technology came to have the prominent role it has worldwide, the answer may be literally WEIRD from a reading of Joseph Henrich’s book. WEIRD in this case is an acronym for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic—essentially Europe and the continents Europeans dominated starting before and especially after the Enlightenment. The essence of this richly researched work is that the Catholic Church’s Marriage and Family Program (MFP) upended the tribal moorings of northern Europe by forbidding marriage within extended families—this destroyed the tribal ruling classes, and established an individualism that replaced the traditional extended family based relationships that were and are standard throughout the rest of the world. When literacy increased due to scripture reading encouraged by the Reformation, the MFP effect expanded and accelerated first in Europe, and then worldwide as Europeans took their individualism and technology to distant places where they traveled and settled.

Tribal cultures are not inclined to develop technology or pursue outside learning due to its disruptive effects on the status quo of the ruling tribal elite. Conversely, WEIRD cultures embrace technology and place fewer barriers to its implementation—this produces a different kind of elite, one not based solely on familial relationships. WEIRD cultures develop superior construction and medical techniques—and superior weapons. The WEIRD approach to world problems can on the surface bring health and prosperity to non-WEIRD populations. It also can be equally disastrous to a non-WEIRD culture when it’s in an unequal relationship with a WEIRD culture—examples are the less than productive results from WEIRD attempts at communication in Vietnam, South America, Afghanistan, and Iraq (add your own examples to this list). The forced suppression of tribal cultures by WEIRD cultures is rightly condemned, and WEIRD countries such as the US are barely beginning to recognize the chauvinism of Manifest Destiny.

However, Henrich’s description of tribal communities indicates that not all is a perfect life in non-WEIRD communities. In a tribal culture, one’s family is a foundation and a shield against outside attacks—it’s also a confining boundary against seeking a better life. Some non-WEIRD societies were also enaged in inter-tribal wars, and their traditions included brutal initiation rites—most of them are by nature authoritarian at all levels.

WEIRD societies have produced both beneficial and detrimental effects on both themselves and non-WEIRD societies. Without the MFP being imposed on the European tribes, it’s likely that the American continents would still be ruled by Native Americans, and many of the world’s wars would have been much less deadly (if they occurred at all)—conversely none of us would have the advanced medicine, transportation, communication, and creature comforts we take for granted today.

Between the two (WEIRD vs. non-WEIRD) it may be a matter of pick your poison—or more likely, which lifestyle has been allotted to you by life’s circumstances. Recently, with the advancement of authoritarianism (including in parts of Europe and America), the world may begin to become less WEIRD—consider the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how authoritarian obedience impaired their military execution (a fortunate development for democracy). Other authoritarian nations also don’t innovate as much as they import—or steal (as authoritarian societies are by their nature hamstrung from innovation). As of now, it appears to be too early to know whether democracy will be able to hold its own against the current advancement of autocracy.

The ultimate question is whether a society can be WEIRD without being a hegemon (military, economic, or cultural) over non-WEIRD societies (both inside and between nations). I think the answer to that is yes—and due to their superior technology, the WEIRD societies have it in their power to make the decision to do so. Those of us in WEIRD societies are under the imperative to advance that ethos—doing so may be the key to holding off 21st Century autocracy, for the well being of both WEIRD and non-WEIRD societies.

Necessary to understand the modern world

The reduction of kin-based cultural norms and its consequences is the key ingredient I needed to further understand how the modern world appeared. Many other ideas have been present as a root cause; however, none ever felt sufficient, on its own, to explain the break from tradition that lead to our now several centuries of rapid progress.

The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich is the best, and most important, book that I have encountered in 10 years.

Why people differ and why it matters

This is how you do evolutionary anthropology. Brilliant. Hopefully seminal. Even if the individual hypotheses fail, the framework will triumph.

Mostly harmless

While the pronunciation errors other reviewers have noted are significantly more frequent than in any other audiobook I've listened to, and sometimes embarrassingly silly, they rarely impeded comprehension. The only instance I can recall in which it came close was when 'causal' was read as 'casual' in a setting where the latter could have also made sense.

Narration made understanding the book more difficult.

The tone and tempo of the narrator was very distracting. Consider another performer next time.

A Must-Read

Breathtaking in theoretical scope,
impressive at each step of its empirical demonstrations,
(quite thoughtful and forthright about shortcomings in the evidence along the way,)
and forcefully persuasive in its many conclusions.

This work deserves to be among the most influential popular non-fiction works of the 21st century.

I eagerly await theoretical and empirical criticisms and developments. However, Henrich has set out the new standard for explaining the peculiarity of the West.

A must read

so much research and critical/new ideas are outlined in this book that an individual will struggle to have an up-to-date and coherent worldview about what has shaped the history of humanity without having read this

SOCIETIES' EVOLUTION

Joseph Henrich writes an explosive book focusing on social evolution. The explosion is in the first half of the book. The remainder has a few firecrackers but no explosions. His erudite research infers much of the world will either evolve in a western world way or degrade into an economically and politically poorer and disruptive society that distrusts the western world and foments military and political opposition. If Henrich’s analysis carries some truth, one hopes the western world will persist within a more secular religious belief system that will preserve the earth’s environment.

Henrich ends his sociological analysis with two fundamental requirements for civilizations’ continued advancement. Contrary to an oft assumed cause being the lone genius that invents something new or discovers some unknown truth of science, Henrich suggests interconnectedness and diversity are the foundation of civilizations’ advance.

Comprehensive, but not that weird.

Fantastically researched book, although it could've been reduced in length and still been effective. Pairs excellent with Guns Germs and Steel for explaining world trends and how we got here (generally). The name of the book is a stretch, although catchy. In fact in the closing chapter the author negates the effects of wealth, neutralizing the R in weird...but the kin ties and opening of new social agreements is highly explanatory. Overall great and important work.

Addressing important but difficult questions

I loved the deep dive into history of human cultures and the constant references to verifiable data. The author answer the question about civilization excellence, why the process started in Europe and developed so well. Why not China and sophisticated world of Islam? The answers are counterintuitive and yet compelling. Race was not a factor. As a side dish he also answers the question: “what women want?” One of the best books I read in 2023.