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This Is How We Became WEIRD
We are: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic
How WEIRD are you?
WEIRD is a great acronym by Henrich, Heine, and Norenzayan. It originally referred to the bias of psychological tests that chose among the WEIRD for most research studies.
I am both very proud and ashamed at being WEIRD in our confusing times.
This is because we somewhat younger people in the twenty-first century are living in (at least) two different realities.
You too, are WEIRD
Most of us are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, And Democratic
We began in a world where Columbus was a hero, not a zero. Capitalism “defeated” Communism. Going to space would allow everyone to visit the moon. Science and tech was cool for Trekkie TNG nerds like me; not just for super-villain overlords who mined our minds. The disparity of rich and poor was not so severe, the gilded age part deux had not yet killed the golden canary in the coal mine gilded cage — so to speak.
Our parents and grandparents went along with a lot of incomplete stories of how we came to be as Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic as we are. Or, in many modern settings, are not.