Today we're reviewing "The WEIRDest People in the World" by Joseph Henrich.

This book explores how Western societies became psychologically distinct and subsequently prosperous. It argues that the Catholic Church's Marriage and Family Programme (MFP), by dismantling intensive kinship structures, initiated a cascade of cultural and psychological changes in Europe.

These shifts fostered individualism, impersonal trust, and self-regulation, which in turn fuelled the growth of voluntary associations, market integration, and urbanisation. The text also examines how Protestantism further amplified these "WEIRD" (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic) psychological traits and how intergroup competition and war, in specific social contexts, also contributed to these unique developments. Ultimately, the source posits that these distinct psychological and institutional pathways laid the groundwork for the Industrial Revolution and Europe's global expansion.

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