The WEIRDest People in the World
How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
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The WEIRDest People in the World
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Narrated by:
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Korey Jackson
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By:
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Joseph Henrich
About this listen
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)
What listeners say about The WEIRDest People in the World
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-11-2022
Very dense but very interesting
Really interesting and well argued points. Not ideal for listening as it is very dense and I wanted to go back and revisit concepts. Overall fabulously well argued concept.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sachin
- 10-05-2022
Such amazing findings
This book has given me all the answers to my questions about the Western civilisation. I love how the book started out with all the attributes of Westerners at a high level, then explain through anthropology, and studies what has contributed to them being the way they are. great book! Highly recommend!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Momo C
- 12-04-2023
Interestingly presented
Well organised chapters and interestingly written language!
Some statistics makes it a little bit academic to chew up but overall it’s very informative and evidently supported.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-01-2024
Excellent
Great book. Should be a prescribed reading for high school seniors and government policy makers
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Geoff Stewart
- 29-05-2021
Pronunciation
Pity that neither corey jackson nor his manager are literate.
Simpleminded phonetic mis-pronounciations not satisfactory.
Rgds
Gws
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Misha
- 01-11-2022
The single most important work
A Trojan horse of radical ideas, it is the single most important work I’d prescribe to someone to understand the modern world
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Siren
- 28-09-2023
Bountiful epiphonies
… the amount of content in this is astronomical. It leads you down so many rabbit holes you end up wondering why you didn't connect some of his concepts prior to reading it - and then you realise its because some of the valid points you weren't aware of, and then your brain starts to see the world... differently.
It's one of those books that actually alters the way you see the world you live in. Great listen/read. Like other people say, it's dense but is laid out to be digested easily so you can absorb as much as you can.
No minute, I feel, was really wasted. It was a well pathed journey, in terms of giving situational context, but it was littered with great connective data. It didn't feel like you were being peppered, it felt like a nice journey, but there boy was there a lot of data.
You can sit and listen to it like a story, and be satisfied. Or you could take notes throughout the entire thing and end up with a treasure trove of referenced stats and niche topics collating data over the centuries.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-08-2023
Is weird the new normal?
Great book and ideas. Excellent read and splendid vocabulary. Poor performance. The narrator spoiled it somewhat for me. Nevertheless the content was great.
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1 person found this helpful