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.
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.
"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.