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> WEIRD: Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic. How precious.
by fourthark 6y ago
> WEIRD: Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic.
How precious.
- Animats 6y agoRight. That's the silly part. As the reviewer says, "This book calls out for respectful but ruthless vetting on all counts." The main point seems to be “The accidental genius of Western Christianity was in ‘figuring out’ how to dismantle kin-based institutions while at the same time catalyzing its own spread.” Do societies with strong kin-based structures have scaling problems?
- linspace 6y agoI would say they do have scaling problems in the form of rampant corruption. You need to destroy local power to form a bigger nation. Nobility has always resisted kings and kings emperors.
- hexbinencoded 6y agoMaybe they're: 1. trapped in their Whole Foods NYC filter bubble? 2. they've seen too much in their densely-packed, urbanite existence where there is little community or reputation management? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2C5rnVC8QE&list=PLmiHNp6eb616RZkitEl6lkxE8T-hJdLwu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2C5rnVC8QE&list=PLmiHNp6eb6... 3. American and so presume they have it "good so everyone must be good too," when the society is actually more unequal than ever like a Brazil or a Russia?
- akdor1154 6y agoYeah I reckon this term reeks a bit of insinuated superiority as well, but the article (and the feeling I get from the book it references) is more concerned with examining the differences between western and non-western cultures, and apart from this term in particular I think it does it quite reasonably (from my western perspective!)
- zshrdlu 6y agoNot "a bit". The differences make some better adapted, hence "particularly prosperous".
- jmeister 6y agoIt’s supposed to read: Western AND Educated AND .. I.e intersection of all those traits. Nazi Germany or present-day Greece are excluded. There is nothing “precious” about it.