Ummm, yeah. Written by Harvard professor Joseph Henrich, The WEIRDest People in the World aims to explain the history and psychological variation of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) populations with approaches from cultural evolution and evolutionary psychology.  To make a very long story short, a lot of the shift can be traced back to the rise of the Roman Catholic church, which expanded through Europe and wiped out traditional clans and lifestyles.

While I enjoyed some of the ideas presented here and how our environment literally impacts our physiology, this information was presented in much more of a formal way than I usually prefer.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this used as a textbook in some college course somewhere.  This academic approach impacted my ability to get through and enjoy the theses presented.