Joseph Henrich, a Harvard evolutionary biology expert, dives into the fascinating nuances of WEIRD culture—Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic—highlighting its unique traits and biases. He explores the interplay between cultural and genetic evolution, illustrated by case studies of collectivist and individualistic societies. The discussion also touches on how Christianity transformed familial structures, the impact of cultural evolution on personality dynamics, and the urgent need for more inclusive psychological research across diverse cultures.
In 'The Secret of Our Success', Joseph Henrich presents a provocative alternative to the standard narrative about human evolution. He argues that the key to human success is not our individual intelligence, but our ability to form collective brains that store and transmit vast amounts of cultural knowledge. Henrich draws on findings from anthropology, linguistics, behavioral economics, psychology, and evolutionary biology to demonstrate how culture and genes interact in a unique evolutionary process that drives human innovation and progress. The book challenges traditional views of evolution and highlights the importance of social and cultural factors in shaping human behavior and achievements.
The WEIRDest People in the World
Joseph Patrick Henrich
Korey Jackson
Joseph Henrich
In this book, Joseph Henrich explores how Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) populations developed their unique psychological profiles. He argues that changes in family structures, marriage, and religion, particularly influenced by the Roman Catholic Church, led to the emergence of WEIRD psychology. This psychology is characterized by individualism, self-obsession, control-orientation, nonconformity, and analytical thinking, which contrast with the more group-focused and shame-driven cultures of non-Western societies. Henrich uses research from anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explain how these psychological differences contributed to the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe[1][4][5].
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Joseph Henrich about WEIRD people and cultural evolution. They start the conversation by defining what WEIRD means and some of the essential features of WEIRD people. They talk about cumulative cultural evolution and how this works in tandem with natural and sexual selection. They discuss some examples of individualistic and collective cultures and some of the similarities and differences. They engage with each other about whether culture causes evolutionary change or is merely a variable that influences change. They talk about the spread of Christianity and how it has impacted cultural evolution. They also discuss the impact of cultural evolution on markets and economic systems. They also mention the impact of war and the global collective brain as a way of understanding cultural evolution in the digital age along with many other topics.
Joseph Henrich is Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches to psychology, decision-making, and culture. He has done research on topics such as cultural evolution, human sociality, prestige, and large-scale cooperation. He is the author of The Secret of Our Success: How culture is driving human evolution, domesticating our species, and making us smarter. The topics in this book and his most recent book, The WEIRDest People in the World: How the west become psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous are discussed in this episode. You can find both books along with his research at his website. Twitter: @johenrich
Converging Dialogues 
