WEIRD but really not that wonderful

ARE YOU WEIRD? IF YOU HAVE A Bachelor’s degree, speak English, and only see your cousins at Christmas, the answer is almost certainly yes, or so goes an argument forwarded by Joseph Henrich, author of The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous. WEIRD stands for “Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic”, and is used to describe a particular psychological “template” typical of modern Westerners. Drawing on historical and psychological research, Henrich argues that unlike most people in the world and premodernity, we are “highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist and analytical. We focus on ourselves — our attributes, accomplishments, and aspirations — over our relationships and social roles.” A familiar, accurate and, to my eyes, not especially flattering portrait of modern Western man,…