'A landmark in social thought. Henrich may go down as the most influential social scientist of
the first half of the twenty-first century' MATTHEW SYED Do you identify yourself by your
profession or achievements rather than your family network? Do you cultivate your unique
attributes and goals? If so perhaps you are WEIRD : raised in a society that is Western
Educated Industrialized Rich and Democratic. Unlike most who have ever lived WEIRD people
are highly individualistic nonconformist analytical and control-oriented. How did WEIRD
populations become so psychologically peculiar? What part did these differences play in our
history and what do they mean for our collective identity? Joseph Henrich who developed
the game-changing concept of WEIRD uses leading-edge research in anthropology psychology
economics and evolutionary biology to explore how changing family structures marriage
practices and religious beliefs in the Middle Ages shaped the Western mind laying the
foundations for the world we know today. Brilliant provocative engaging and surprising this
landmark study will revolutionize your understanding of who - and how - we are now.
'Phenomenal ... The only theory I am aware of that attempts to explain broad patterns of human
psychology on a global scale' Washington Post ' You will never look again in the same way at
your own seemingly universal values ' Uta Frith Professor of Cognitive Development University
College London
