Joseph Henrich
Your mind is not a universal human baseline, but a historical anomaly shaped by medieval Catholic marriage edicts that dismantled ancient family clans and accidentally rewired the psychology of the Western world.
People from WEIRD cultures possess a peculiar psychology characterized by intense individualism, a focus on personal intentions over social context, and a reliance on internal guilt rather than external shame.
The Catholic Church inadvertently triggered this psychological transformation by enforcing strict marriage prohibitions that dismantled the dense, kinship-based clans that dominated human history.
Stripped of their protective extended families, Westerners were forced to form voluntary associations like guilds, universities, and charter towns that operated on impartial rules rather than blood ties.