The WEIRDest People in the World
Learn more about Dr. Henrich's new book, The Weirdest People in the World, available now!
https://weirdpeople.fas.harvard.edu https://secretofoursuccess.fas.harvard.edu
Guiding Questions
space
How has culture shaped our species genetic evolution, including our physiology, anatomy and psychology? How can we use evolutionary theory to understand how people learn and transmit culture, and how does this lay a foundation for building a theory of cultural evolution? How can we understand human social status? What’s the nature of prestige? How can we explain the breadth, intensity and peculiar character of human sociality and cooperation? What role has war and other forms of intergroup conflict played in human evolution, particularly in the evolution of cooperation and sociality? In only about 12,000 years, how did human societies expand from relatively small-scale hunter-gatherer bands to vast and complex nation states? What drives innovation and the process of cumulative cultural evolution? How does cultural evolution shape our psychology, brains, motivations, hormonal responses, intuitive reactions, beliefs, worldviews and preferences? How can we account for the immense psychological variation we observe across the globe? How can we explain the peculiar psychological and behavioral patterns observed in societies that are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD societies)? |
   |
What drove human evolution? How did our species go from being a relatively unremarkable primate a few million years ago to the most successful species on the globe?
Joe Henrich on Twitter
-
Do we have alcohol to thank for civilization? The answer, according to @slingerland20, is a resounding yes. This week on the #podcast, he discusses how we sipped, danced, and stumbled our way to civilization. Apple: t.co/fpEkhdN13f Spotify: t.co/TUQpslp8AV t.co/cuc7us3CLl
-
For the @Freakonomics Radio podcast, @ColumbiaJournMA alum @BrentKatz_ (MA Politics '20) produced a new episode in which @MicheleJGelfand, @JoHenrich, @GertJanHofstede and @NewBlackMan talk about the pros and cons of America’s (extreme) individualism. t.co/5YZMKweshD
-
Harvard-GMU postdoc integrating cultural evolution, anthropology, economics and psychology to understand global variation in how people think, feeling and reason as well as the kinds of formal institutions they construct. @JF_Schulz @mmuthukrishna @PsychoSchmitt @NAChristakis t.co/0y5idzXuee
-
Harvard-GMU Interdisciplinary Post-doc. @JF_Schulz Ideal for an economist interested in explaining networks, psychological variation, voting outcomes and innovation over U.S. history. Integrate rich textual data with other sources. Learn cultural evolution.@DrNathanNunn t.co/ZsrIhT0kWG
-
The University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies (JSLS) invites applications for a full-time tenure-track social scientist position at the rank of Assistant Professor for the 2022-23 academic year. Review ends Aug 16th. t.co/BIsawKusYS
