> [!summary] Progressive Summary # Structured Notes ## Definitions ## Chapter Summaries ### Prelude - Your Brain Has Been Modified Literacy re-wires the brain in the following ways: 1. Left ventral occipito-temporal region has developed into a specialized function - sitting between language, object and face processing centers 2. Thicker corpus callosum 3. Altered Broca's area (responsible for language production) in the prefrontal cortex 4. Improved verbal memory 5. Shifted facial recognition to right hemisphere 6. Diminished ability to recognize faces 7. Reduced holistic visual processing in favour of analytical processing Literacy took off after 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses, sparking the Protestant Reformation. He argued for the importance of literacy and schooling, as people needed to be able to read the Bible so they could have a direct connection to God. Protestantism spread from Germany to England and the Netherlands, and from there to the US, New Zealand, and Australia. The correlation of Protestantism to literacy is quite high. As late as 1900, the higher the percentage of Protestants in a country, the higher the rate of literacy. In Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands, adult literacy rates were almost 100 percent. In Catholic countries like Spain and Italy, the rates were only about 50 percent. The Reformation reached Scotland in 1560, and the world's first local school tax was established there in 1633 and strengthened in 1646. This produced intellects such as David Hume and Adam Smith and midwifed the Scottish Enlightenment. The above is an illustration of the 4 main themes of the book: 1. Religious convictions shape decision-making, psychology and society. 2. Beliefs, practices, technologies and social norms shape our brains, biology and psychology. 3. Psychological changes shape all manner of subsequent events. For example, literacy laid the groundwork for standardizing laws, broadening the voting franchise and establishing constitutional governments. 4. Literacy provides the first example of how Westerners became psychologically unusual. ### Chapter 1 - Weird Psychology WEIRD - Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic WEIRD people are: - individualistic - self-obsessed - control-oriented - nonconformist - analytical WEIRD-people are more likely to feel guilt over taking a nap instead of going to the gym. Non-WEIRD people are more likely to feel shame because their daughter eloped. > Guilt depends on one's own standards and self-evaluation, while shame depends on societal standards and public judgment. > Individualism is best thought of as a psychological cluster that allows people to better navigate WEIRD social worlds by calibrating their perceptions, attention, judgments, and emotions. # Quotes