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
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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)? |
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Joe Henrich on Twitter
- This book really snuck up on me. Wow. Over the past 6 months I’ve intermittently been reading this book👇🏻 by @JoHenrich , and now near the end the overall implications and importance of the message has struck me. This book provides an entirely new lens through which to perceive. t.co/rUSDxiXsSF t.co/5PQwzdKSXJ
- Sophie just touched down in Delhi and was welcomed by @ShaliniRachel with 2AM birthday cake🎂! They will be overseeing the 3rd and final wave of data collection for our @templeton_fdn Building Virtue project. Join us in wishing them a fun and productive trip! t.co/BbE4l4IRon
- Do animals care about fairness? Our new, preregistered meta-analysis - using data from 23 papers (thanks to all authors for sharing!) - finds no evidence for a sense of justice in nonhuman animals. Check out @oded_ritov's thread below t.co/686BVyT9W1
- Collective psychology emerges from individual interactions. Collective processes are self-organizing, they adapt to changes in the environment, and their states are modified as a result of tipping points. Join us to the @SPSPnews collective psych precon (virtual) to learn more! t.co/VhHhO9kYHi
- Is the human brain a typical primate brain? Watch my interview with Dr. Suzana Herculano-Houzel, about her book, The Human Advantage. #neuroscience #Biology #Anthropology #evolutionarybiology #humanevolution #Science #brain Full interview: t.co/SWLIGChuno t.co/JhKC8MG0zB