My latest summary is for The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich, a fascinating book about culture and psychology, with a dash of history. This one's a bit lengthier than normal, reflecting the scope of Henrich's ambitious, 700-page book!

As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What is WEIRD?

• WEIRD is an acronym for: Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic.
• Psychologically, people from WEIRD societies differ from non-WEIRD people in many ways. Henrich organises these into 3 broad groups:
  • Individualism. WEIRD people focus more on themselves and their personal attributes than on their relationships with others. They are less conformist and value control and choice more than non-WEIRD people.
  • Impersonal prosociality. WEIRD people trust strangers more and tend to prefer impartial, universal rules.
  • Perception and cognition. WEIRD people tend to be analytical and abstract thinkers, whereas non-WEIRD people tend to be more holistic. Non-WEIRD people are more likely to focus on relationships between objects than on the properties of the objects themselves.
• Most humans are not WEIRD. Throughout history, most people lived in societies with intensive kin-based institutions.

How did people become WEIRD?

• In Europe between 400-1200 CE, the Catholic Church promulgated a Marriage and Family Program (MFP).
• A key element of the MFP was its far-reaching incest taboos, which banned cousin marriages. Other notable elements included monogamy, individual consent to marriage, nuclear families, and notions of individual ownership.
• The MFP effectively weakened traditional kin-based relationships while increasing individualism and impersonal prosociality.
• The Protestant Reformation beginning 1517 compounded these psychological and cultural changes — it was both a cause and consequence of Europe’s growing WEIRDness.

Why are WEIRD countries rich?

• Henrich argues that WEIRD psychology in Europe predated, and therefore enabled, the Industrial Revolution.
• Individualism increased mobility, allowing people to choose their own occupations, cities and voluntary associations.
• WEIRD psychology is also correlate with higher patience and self-control, which likely contributed to economic growth and reduced crime.
• Impersonal prosociality allowed people to trade across bigger markets and cooperate in large networks, forming a large ‘collective brain’.
• Competition between cities and voluntary associations allowed the most effective norms and laws to spread widely.
• Lower fertility rates helped Europe escape the Malthusian trap.

As usual, you can find the full detailed summary on the website. If you enjoyed this summary, consider forwarding it to a friend.

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​To Summarise​