I really love the wild theory we explore in this episode. About 1500 years ago some obscure Catholic pope declared we probably shouldn’t marry our cousin. And from here the “West” was born. A psychologically peculiar subset of humanity then rose to dominate the planet, namely western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic folk. You know, WEIRD people. You and I. Joseph Henrich is a Harvard professor in evolutionary biology who took 10 years to research this truly Zeitgeist-shifting theory. Today he explains how the arrogant assumption that we are the “normal” ones has led to some very bizarre stuff – whether we pay parking tickets, how much testosterone we have and whether we feel shame or guilt when we do wrong.

Connect with Dr Henrich’s work here.

Get hold of his fun book The Weirdest People In The World

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JOSEPH HENRICH: You are weird! Here’s the scientist who can explain why