The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter, Joseph Henrich (Princeton University Press, 2015). There are books that have had a greater influence on my thinking, and there are certainly books I’ve devoured with greater enjoyment, but
Four years ago I tried to read this book, even though the parts I read are very insightful and I realized the book is important, I could not bring myself to finish it.
Glad that I found your review today. Not sure if it were time/personal change or your writing that makes the content much more 'consumable' for me now.
Also, the personal insights and notes of related works throughout the summary give a new dimension to the original content, and are very relatable to me.
Like you said, we can either choose to be rational about every action/decision, or we can simply be meta-rational by surrounding ourselves with people we want to be like. I'm glad I found your substack.
A discussion on EconTwitter a few years ago casts doubt about the Israeli daycare paper entirely. When asked for their data by outsiders to review, they basically said, "uh, the dog ate my homework". I can try to find a reference if you're interested.
An overview by Caplan, which includes the quote about not being allowed to confirm independently ("Oddly, I was not allowed to to talk with the teachers"):
I've only read P&P, S&S, and Persuasion so far, and I have to admit that I think Persuasion is #2 after P&P. The pacing just really didn't do it for me. I'm curious to hear your pro-Persuasion, uh, persuasion, though!
Better late than never, I suppose....I don't have any logical reason for enjoying Persuasion. I just remember having had a good feeling about it while reading it.
I don't think the first footnote is really fair — they didn't know they would have a second book at all, I think. But, great review and if you like Austen check out Thackeray, he's much funnier.
The preface to _The WEIRDest People in the World_ is pretty explicit that this book was originally part one of that but eventually Henrich concluded it needed a book-length treatment. I don’t think that’s a knock on this one!
Four years ago I tried to read this book, even though the parts I read are very insightful and I realized the book is important, I could not bring myself to finish it.
Glad that I found your review today. Not sure if it were time/personal change or your writing that makes the content much more 'consumable' for me now.
Also, the personal insights and notes of related works throughout the summary give a new dimension to the original content, and are very relatable to me.
Like you said, we can either choose to be rational about every action/decision, or we can simply be meta-rational by surrounding ourselves with people we want to be like. I'm glad I found your substack.
A discussion on EconTwitter a few years ago casts doubt about the Israeli daycare paper entirely. When asked for their data by outsiders to review, they basically said, "uh, the dog ate my homework". I can try to find a reference if you're interested.
Sure, thanks.
An overview by Caplan, which includes the quote about not being allowed to confirm independently ("Oddly, I was not allowed to to talk with the teachers"):
https://www.econlib.org/archives/2005/10/revenge_of_the.html
My memory served me correctly:
https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2024/09/14/freakonomics-asks-why-is-there-so-much-fraud-in-academia-but-without-addressing-one-big-incentive-for-fraud-which-is-that-if-you-make-grabby-enough-claims-you-can-get-features-in-freako/
Critique of Gneezy, by Rubinstein:
https://arielrubinstein.tau.ac.il/papers/76.pdf
https://arielrubinstein.tau.ac.il/papers/behavioral-economics.pdf (better quality)
Gneezy's response:
https://arielrubinstein.tau.ac.il/papers/WC05/GR.pdf
Gneey claims a later replication, but there is also this anti-replication:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0144818819302741
"As I've been writing this review, I’ve also been making my way through the works of Jane Austen for the first time."
Two questions: 1) which book is your favorite; and 2) why is it Persuasion?
I've only read P&P, S&S, and Persuasion so far, and I have to admit that I think Persuasion is #2 after P&P. The pacing just really didn't do it for me. I'm curious to hear your pro-Persuasion, uh, persuasion, though!
Better late than never, I suppose....I don't have any logical reason for enjoying Persuasion. I just remember having had a good feeling about it while reading it.
I don't think the first footnote is really fair — they didn't know they would have a second book at all, I think. But, great review and if you like Austen check out Thackeray, he's much funnier.
The preface to _The WEIRDest People in the World_ is pretty explicit that this book was originally part one of that but eventually Henrich concluded it needed a book-length treatment. I don’t think that’s a knock on this one!
Oh, I'd forgotten! I stand corrected. Agreed on tendentiousness of WEIRDest. Cheers.