I will start by admitting that it took me a while to finish the book. It started as a very easy read and it got a bit boring in the middle and then it picked up again.
This was a particularly good read for me because it combines a few of my most beloved sciences. I mean other than computer science, which is of course my top Jam.
In this book, Joseph Henrich discusses how the western psychology is actually peculiar and not by any means representative of "human psychology". He argues, because most researches about human psychology in not all were done in western societies, what we now know as psychology is really not human psychology and merely western psychology. And he proves it based on a lot of data. As an Ethiopian man living in Germany, I can testify to the big psychological differences
The main argument behind this is rooted in cultural evaluation. Out evolution as humans have been predominantly cultural since we settled down and maybe a bit before that. Rather than natural selection, we evolve culturally. And that seems to be the reason for out success. This means different cultures bring different psychologies. This means it is of little sense to talk about psychology without acknowledging culture and environment influence human psychology.
While making that above point he discusses how the western psychology came to be. He discusses how the Western Church and it's rules around marriage and family created a wave of changes that brought about a vary weird psychology which triggered other sets of psychological peculiarities. These peculiarities include individualism, impersonal trust, time thrift, guilt over shame, none conforming and etc. Then he goes on to discuss how these peculiarities foster innovation, democracy and economic development.
There are quite a lot of interesting insights in the book. But here are some of the most interesting ones for me.
Protestantism contributed to literacy. How you may ask. One of the basic principles of Protestantism is the need to form a personal connection with God. And the way you do this is by reading scripture for yourself and then understanding it in your own way. This created a wave of literacy. And this literacy wave included women.
Does marrying your cousin sound weird or even appalling to you? It seems like it's very common elsewhere and it has been common for most of human history. I had not realized it was so common. And there is data to support it.
Polygeny is not only interesting for men, it was also interesting for women in ancient societies. Compared to monogamous societies, polygenous societies offer more desirable men. That is because married desirable men (best hunters for example) are not taken off the market. But polygeny also leaves a portion of men without marriage prospects and increases crime.
Monogamy, with men involved heavily in family affairs and raising children, decreases testosterone levels in men and that simple means less crime.
The BIG-5 Personality Traits are not universal. Using a research done in a primitive society, he proves that. In fact there is only two trait in that society. That was mind-blowing for me
War and other disasters, which the west endured for so long, foster in-group cooperation and inter-group competition.
This was a very good read, I highly recommend it. It gave me some insights on possible reasons why western institutions are not working well in Ethiopia and the bigger Africa.They simply don't go well with out inherent psychologies.
If this inspired you to read the book, let me know! I would love to hear your takes on it.
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