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mjgrace's review against another edition
2.5
No one warns you about how much he talks about marrying relatives. Not a fan.
nickedkins's review against another edition
4.0
I usually have a problem with these grand-scope books because they tend to stray from the author's area of expertise and become speculative. You tend to learn lots of interesting information along the way, and they're a lot of fun, so I'll keep reading them, but I've always got the hackles up.
For the first half of this book, I think this isn't so much of a problem, although the other issue here is I'm not exactly in a position to evaluate that as a non-expert myself. This section sticks to revealing the huge discrepancies between the responses of Westerners and the rest of the world to a range of psychological tests.
The second section aims to show how these differences led Western nations to have outsized influence on the world. Henrich does close by saying that the psychology is just one piece of this puzzle, which I appreciate, but I did feel at times that that nuance was lost while building the case.
Anyway, very eye-opening and worth thinking about.
For the first half of this book, I think this isn't so much of a problem, although the other issue here is I'm not exactly in a position to evaluate that as a non-expert myself. This section sticks to revealing the huge discrepancies between the responses of Westerners and the rest of the world to a range of psychological tests.
The second section aims to show how these differences led Western nations to have outsized influence on the world. Henrich does close by saying that the psychology is just one piece of this puzzle, which I appreciate, but I did feel at times that that nuance was lost while building the case.
Anyway, very eye-opening and worth thinking about.
t8r's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent book to get you thinking about sociology. It's helped me break some of the unwarranted assumptions I've made about society and human nature. I reference this book as often as I or my interlocutors take WEIRD psychology or assumptions for granted.
chloezhou97's review against another edition
4.0
insightful and scientific but a little bit hard to read …
I’ve been introduced to this book for a long time… it’s not an easy reading book and I always find myself distracted while skimming through. It’s still a bit confusing to me whether it is the psychology or the culture that plays the rule of western world rocket rising during the second millennium. Well I guess it is coevolving that shapes the western world but what about the religion? Is the Christianity emergence simply out of chance ?
I’ve been introduced to this book for a long time… it’s not an easy reading book and I always find myself distracted while skimming through. It’s still a bit confusing to me whether it is the psychology or the culture that plays the rule of western world rocket rising during the second millennium. Well I guess it is coevolving that shapes the western world but what about the religion? Is the Christianity emergence simply out of chance ?
xtrems876's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting facts mixed with outdated scientific beliefs, aka the most dangerous kind of thinking process.
This book is on an interesting topic but could've been done better.
This book is on an interesting topic but could've been done better.
notsansastark's review against another edition
I did not like it. I felt like the author said to not make a dichotomy in your mind, then just presents everything as a dichotomy. I didn’t like how it focuses so much on how culture shapes the brain…
saraanneb3's review against another edition
4.0
Really fascinating and thorough research! Deducting a star just bc of how long it was and it dragged a little in the middle