Lesson video

Hello there.

My name is Mr Robertson, and I'm delighted you've chosen to learn with me today.

Today's RE lesson is in the unit which asks this big question: Worldviews: how do I see the world and does everyone see the same way?

And today's title is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic: worldviews and context.

And I know that sounds like a bit of a mouthful, but actually what we're gonna be doing in this lesson is thinking about the worldviews that we have where we live and thinking, is our worldview common?

Do other people think like us?

What can we learn about different worldviews around the world?

I think you're gonna find it really fascinating.

I know I do.

So by the end of this lesson, you will understand the term WEIRD to describe some worldviews and explain how worldviews vary according to context.

In this lesson, we have four keywords.

We have the word kinship, and kinship is the system of family-based relationships and obligations that connect people across generations and households.

We have the term perspective, which is an individual or cultural way of seeing and understanding things.

We have this word, WEIRD, and WEIRD in this lesson means Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic.

And that was suggested by Joseph Henrich to describe common Western ways of thinking.

And finally, we have the word worldview.

And by that, we mean a person's way of understanding, experiencing, and responding to the world.

So this lesson has two sections to it, and in the first section, we're going to be learning all about the WEIRD perspective.

Let's go.

I'd like you to consider this situation to start with: A psychologist is interviewing people from four different countries; Brazil, Nigeria, Japan, and the UK.

She's asking people in all of these countries, "What is your goal in life?

" I wonder, do you think everyone would answer in the same way, no matter which country they came from?

And if you don't, why might they answer differently?

You may want to pause the video here just to reflect on those questions for yourself, or you might want to talk to someone close to you.

To help us answer the question we've just considered, we're going to be looking at the work of an anthropologist.

Joseph Henrich is an anthropologist, and anthropology is a branch of social science that studies culture and how it shapes the way people think.

And by culture, we mean the way people interact in society, they kind of established norms and morals and the way things are done, and the way people express their morality and their sense of joy and sorrow.

Now, Joseph Henrich research shows that culture influences what we see as normal, and this affects our personal knowledge and moral choices.

So in other words, wherever we live, we think that that is normal.

And because we think that's normal, it makes a big difference to how we think about ourselves and what we think is good or bad, for example.

Joseph Henrich wrote a very famous book called "The WEIRDest People in the World.

" And in this, quite controversially, he describes the dominant worldview of the West, by which he means kind of Europe, North America, places like that, as WEIRD.

Now, of course, he doesn't mean weird in the way you might think he means weird, as in slightly odd.

He means it very specifically.

He means it to describe certain characteristics that are common to people across the West, Europe, America, Canada, countries like that.

He says they are Western because of their geographical location.

Educated, because in these countries many people are highly educated and have a common education system.

Industrialized, because these are generally quite wealthy countries that went through an industrial revolution and have high levels of technology and infrastructure.

Rich, because especially comparatively to many other countries in the world they are wealthy.

And finally, democratic, because most of these countries have a democratic parliamentary system with elections and high levels of transparency and low levels of corruption.

So these characteristics unite these countries.

So as we've said, WEIRD for Henrich does not mean strange.

Rather, he argues that this worldview, this Western worldview, is unusual in the world.

Henrich is saying, as Izzy's gonna explain for us, that the majority of people in North America, Europe, and Australia have a worldview that is informed by these contexts.

He's not saying that everyone in these places is exactly the same.

That's really important for us to understand, because he's not saying that everybody in the UK or North America, Australia is rich.

Obviously, there are varying levels of income.

And he's not saying that everybody in these areas have the same level of education.

But what he's saying is that there's a prevailing way of thinking about how to do things and how to live, which is common across these areas, even though, of course, human beings are very different from each other and are individuals.

So let's dig down a little bit more about what he means about this WEIRD perspective.

Henrich says that roughly 12% of people in the world live in these WEIRD societies.

However, 80-96% of participants in psychology studies come from WEIRD backgrounds.

So that's a really interesting finding, isn't it?

Because the people who he describes as WEIRD, who live in these countries in Europe, Australasia, and North America, only make up 12%.

So they're a very small minority of the global population.

However, they make up the vast majority of psychological studies into being human, up to 96%.

So why might that be a problem, do you think?

Again, this is an opportunity perhaps for you to pause the video and reflect for yourself on this, or talk to someone next to you.

So I don't know what you said, but what Henrich says is that what we "know" about human psychology is based on a very narrow slice of humanity.

The vast majority of psychologists who are investigating what it means to be human are doing those experiments and studies on a tiny minority of the world's population, and therefore it's making those findings seem normal for the whole world.

But what if other people who live in the whole world don't necessarily share the worldviews of people who live in Europe, North America, and Australia?

That could be a real problem.

Let's just check our understanding so far.

I want us to think about this term WEIRD and check that we can understand what exactly it means.

So you have three options here: A.

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic.

B.

Western, Environmental, Industrial, Rural, and Developed.

Or C.

Worldwide, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Diverse.

Which of those is what WEIRD stands for?

Pause the video, have a think.

Excellent, it's A, isn't it?

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic.

Brilliant if you got that right.

I want to check a further thing here.

So this is one of Henrich's experiments, which is really interesting.

He gave different people a sentence, a very simple sentence.

It was simply, I am, and then blank.

And in the experiment, people had to complete the sentence.

They were asked to come up with between 5-10 statements.

These statements were to describe something about who they were, how they define themselves, what it was about, what made them them.

Now, before I reveal some of the findings from that, I'd like you to have a go for yourselves.

So I'd like you to think how would you complete that sentence?

Now, you can do this by yourself.

You could do it with a partner, it's fine.

Again, you probably want to pause the video and think about this and write as many statements as you like.

Try and write at least five, a maximum of 10, I would suggest.

I wonder what you put.

So Izzy defines herself within her WEIRD worldview as an individual who focuses on her goals and achievements.

Let's hear what she's put.

She said, "I am curious.

I'm someone who wants to study science.

I'm on the football team.

I'm a big fan of Romantasy fiction.

" So Izzy's revealing some things about her character, her personality, and her worldview.

She's describing something she thinks about herself.

She's a curious person.

She's talking a little bit about her future.

She wants to study science when she's older.

She's telling you something about some of her achievements.

She's on the football team.

And she's also linking into some of the things that help her relax, her fan of being Romantasy fiction.

Now, Henrich argues that people within non-WEIRD worldviews define themselves more in relation to their families and societies more.

Interestingly, Izzy doesn't mention her family, does she here, or anything else?

They're very much about her.

I wonder what you put in your sentences and where they stood on that spectrum.

Sam has been asked the question: "What matters most when you decide who to support or be loyal to?

" Sam says, "What matters most to me is fairness.

If I meet someone new, I usually give them a chance and expect them to treat me the same as everyone else.

I like deciding things for myself, even if my family sees it differently.

" Interesting, Sam.

I wonder, when we look at Sam's answer, if there's anything in that that you relate to.

Do you agree with some of the things that Sam says, or do you think differently?

So what is it about Sam's answer that reflects what we call a WEIRD perspective?

Well, let's look again at what she says.

Sam says, "What matters most to me is fairness.

If I meet someone new, and I usually give them a chance and expect them to treat me the same as anyone else.

I like deciding things for myself, even if my family sees it differently.

" So Sam sees fairness and equality as universal.

In other words, there's a big idea of fairness and equality, and it isn't something that varies from family to family or group to group.

Secondly, Sam says that they trust strangers more than people from other cultures might.

So Sam is really happy to meet someone new and will usually give them a chance.

They won't necessarily think, "Ooh, I'm not sure about this person.

I don't really know them.

Who are they?

" Finally, Sam thinks about things individually and is quite happy to have different ideas from their family.

So thinking things through for themselves is really important for Sam.

Now, Henrich argues that non-WEIRD societies, i.

e.

, the rest of the world that isn't within Europe, North America, and Australia, also have similar characteristics that can connect them.

So, for example, Henrich argues that many people focus more on family and close relatives, what we might call kinship groups, than on larger social systems with strangers.

This means people tend to make decisions based on what benefits their family or close communities, rather than society as a whole.

That's important to remember here, that Henrich is arguing very generally.

He's not saying that this applies in every single country and every single person.

He's making general statements about societies that he's looked at.

Let's meet somebody and ask them a similar question.

Ellyanne lives in Nigeria, and she's been asked the same question as Sam: "What matters most when you decide who to support or be loyal to?

" Ellyanne says, "What matters most to me is my family.

I talk things through with them before I decide, and their advice helps me choose what to do.

My loyalty is strongest with the people I'm closest to.

" So thinking about what we've just said, I wonder how Ellyanne's answer reflects a non-WEIRD perspective.

You might want to pause the video and think there.

Think about what Ellyanne is saying.

How might that be different to what Sam was saying?

So you may have noticed that Ellyanne talks about her loyalty to her family as the most important thing.

And rather than making a decision as an individual, she wants to talk with her family first.

And she also says her loyalty is closest and strongest to the people around her, rather than society as a whole.

Let's just check our understanding so far.

I've got a true or false question for you here.

Henrich argues that individual goals and achievements matter more to people with a non-WEIRD worldview.

Is that true or false?

Excellent, it's false, isn't it?

And why?

Because people with a non-WEIRD worldview, as we saw with Ellyanne, often prioritize family goals over personal achievement.

Focusing on individual goals actually reflects more of a WEIRD worldview according to Henrich.

Okay, I've got a first task for you here.

I want you to think a little bit about what we've been learning about, what Henrich's argument is about WEIRD and non-WEIRD worldviews.

I've got some statements for you here, and I'd like you to decide: do these express either a WEIRD worldview or a non-WEIRD worldview?

Here are the statements.

Education should prepare you to serve your family and community.

Success means being independent and standing on your own two feet.

Wealth belongs to the individual who earns it.

It's important to think about how your choices affect your wider family and community.

So, you can see you've got some boxes here.

I'd like you to select, for those statements, whether you think they fit with what Henrich argues is a WEIRD worldview or a non-WEIRD worldview.

Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Good luck.

Okay, what did you put?

So the first statement, education should prepare you to serve your family and community.

That reflects a non-WEIRD worldview, 'cause it focuses education not on the individual, but on others.

Success, being independent and standing on your own two feet reflects a WEIRD worldview, because that's about yourself and standing for yourself and an individual focus.

Wealth belongs to the individual who earns it.

Reflect say, a WEIRD worldview, because it's about keeping that wealth for yourself because you've earned it.

Important to think about choices affect you on your wider family and community reflects more of a non-WEIRD worldview, because that's about thinking of others.

So, well done if you've identified those successfully.

And it's important, I just want to keep say that this is Henrich's arguments.

It doesn't necessarily mean that it's true or that it's true for every single person in all of those societies.

Okay, for the second part of this lesson then, we're gonna be thinking about understanding our perspective.

So having a WEIRD perspective affects the way we understand other people's worldviews.

This, I think, is a really important thing for us to think about.

Because growing up in the society we live in, in the United Kingdom, we may assume that what we see as normal here must be the same everywhere and that everybody in every country holds the same values and thinks the same things are important.

And this is supported by WEIRD behaviors.

Henrich talks about the fact that many people in WEIRD societies, like ours, join clubs and trust people we don't know, and that's a normal part of living in this society.

The other thing he talks about is that our social environment constantly reinforces these behaviors, so they feel natural and we don't question them.

You might want to think about the messages that you pick up in school and in society and from government about the ways in which we should behave, the things we might do when we meet other people, the way in which we might interact with strangers, the way in which we might work and live with people around us.

One example of this that Henrich talks about is the idea of donating blood.

Donating blood is a really interesting thing because it's quite an altruistic action.

I might choose to go to a hospital and give blood, and that blood isn't necessarily going to be used to someone I know; it's going to be given to a complete stranger.

Henrich claims that people from WEIRD societies are more likely to donate blood to strangers.

I wonder why you might think that is.

Again, you may want to pause the video and think about this.

I wonder what you thought about it.

Well, Henrich argues that people in WEIRD societies are more likely to donate blood because trust, as we've been saying, in these societies goes beyond the family and extends to strangers.

And so, people are perhaps more willing to give something to somebody that they don't know.

We have systems in our countries like hospitals and laws that make this trust possible.

So I can go to a hospital, and a medical team will look after me; they'll make sure I can give blood, they'll make sure it's safe, and I might be able to have arrangements with my employer which will allow me to do that and support me to do that.

And so we have systems in our country and these societies that make that really easy.

And thirdly, these systems make people feel safe and responsible.

So, actually, the system encourages us to help others and to give blood.

There are lots of ways in which employers might reward staff for doing that.

It's seen as a good thing in societies.

Now, again, I want to keep stressing that we are not saying, Henrich is not saying, that nobody in non-WEIRD societies does this and that people in non-WEIRD societies are less generous.

Sometimes, if you watch the news when there are disasters in other countries, you might see people volunteering to do this.

So you might be thinking, "Well, I'm not sure if I agree with Henrich, and I'm not sure if I think everything he's saying is right.

And that's great to be able to find and think about the arguments.

Let's hear from Alan.

Alan says, "I give blood 'cause I know it can save lives in emergencies, and I never know when I or someone I care about might need that kind of help.

It's not easy for me because I feel squeamish around needles, and it takes an effort to go to the clinic and sit through it.

I do it because I know my donation will reach someone who really needs it, and that makes the effort worthwhile.

" Looking at what Alan is saying, I wonder how you think that represents a WEIRD worldview.

You might have talked about how Alan is saying although he personally feels squeamish, he knows it can help other people.

And because of that, he's willing to make that effort, even for a total stranger.

Alan is taking personal responsibility.

Let's meet Arjun.

Arjun lives in the UK.

His parents originally came from India.

Arjun says, "When my parents grew older and needed more support, we never thought about sending them to a residential home.

For us, that would feel like turning away from our responsibilities.

Instead, we extended our house so they could come and stay with us.

" Although Arjun lives in a WEIRD society, the UK, he's actually really influenced by his non-WEIRD kinship values.

So, many people in the UK, when their parents or relatives get older, go to residential or nursing homes.

Whereas Arjun is saying, "Well, actually, for me, my family is really important, and so I don't want to do that.

So instead, I'd rather make a personal sacrifice and extend my home and have my extended family come and live with me so I can care for them.

" So Arjun is showing some examples of non-WEIRD values because he's valuing loyalty to his family and his wish to support them above his personal freedom, which could be he would have more of if his parents lived in a residential home.

Again, you may think, "Well, I don't know what I would do in my situation, which values would I be thinking were more important here?

" Let's just check our understanding so far.

I've got a true or false question for you here.

Kinship-focused societies often see caring for elderly parents as a family duty rather than relying on residential homes.

Is that true or false?

Excellent, it's true, isn't it?

And we could see that Arjun emphasized his kinship ties and wanted to care for his elderly relatives at home.

So that represents non-WEIRD societies.

Henrich's WEIRD perspective can have some positives, whether you agree with it or not.

It's important to understand that many of us do have a WEIRD lens just because we've grown up in societies that are Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic.

And that's important, because when we meet other people or look at other cultures, it might help us to understand that people may not think exactly the same as us, and they may have different views and opinions about how the world should be, or what kind of choices you should make, or ideas of morality and value.

And rather than just dismissing people because we don't agree with them, maybe we can take a step back and think, "Well, actually, why do I think the way I do?

" And maybe it's because my prevailing worldview is so influenced by my culture, and that's telling me what's right or wrong.

It can also encourage us to question our own beliefs rather than assuming they're automatically right.

It might be that we meet or hear about different ways of thinking in different parts of the world.

And maybe we think, "How interesting, that isn't really how things happen in my society, but maybe there's some really great ideas there.

They're not just automatically wrong because they're different.

" But as we've hinted a little bit through this lesson, there can be some negatives as well about using this WEIRD framework which Henrich talks about.

Focusing very much on a WEIRD or non-WEIRD lens could lead to overgeneralizing.

And I think this could be a real weakness of the argument.

It might assume that all Western societies are the same, but, of course, we know they're not.

Some of you may have been abroad to different parts of Europe.

And, actually, sometimes when we go to other countries, they feel quite different in lots of ways, as well as feeling similar.

It can also lead us to assume a very binary position where there are kind of WEIRD and non-WEIRD worldviews, whereas actually worldviews often overlap and mix.

We saw that, didn't we?

What Arjun was saying, where he is British, but in some ways his ideas of wanting to look after and support his parents may reflect more worldviews that come from his Indian historical culture.

And, of course, people themselves are individual, and you might be thinking, and some people might say, "Well, I would want my parents to live with me when I'm older as well.

" And I might have a WEIRD worldview, but I don't necessarily agree with that idea.

And Henrich himself is wise to that and warns against this danger of having too binary a position about WEIRD and non-WEIRD.

So let's just check our understanding there.

Why can recognizing that we see the world through a WEIRD lens be helpful?

A.

It reminds us that what feels normal may not be universal.

B.

It proves that WEIRD behaviors are always superior.

C.

It shows that all cultures value strangers more than family.

D.

It means everyone should adopt WEIRD practices.

Excellent, it's A, isn't it?

A WEIRD lens can be helpful 'cause it reminds us that what we feel is normal may not necessarily be universal.

Knowing we have a cultural lens like WEIRD might lead us to approach questions in different ways.

Izzy's been learning about arranged marriage in Islam in her RE lessons.

She says, "I don't really understand why families would be so involved in choosing who someone marries.

To me, marriage feels like something you decide for yourself, so it's hard to imagine parents having such a big role.

" Now, we've mentioned before that Izzy has a WEIRD perspective.

I wonder what assumptions you think she may have made there in her statement about arranged marriage.

Izzy's assumed that her experiences are the default.

She's assumed, hasn't she, that the idea of individual choice about who you marry is just normal.

And so, anyone who does anything different is a bit strange or even wrong.

Whereas, actually, her reasons for thinking that are hugely influenced by growing up in a culture, in a society, where the prevailing view of marriage is it's about making an individual choice.

Izzy speaks to Ilham, who had an arranged marriage.

Ilham says, "Arranged marriage feels unusual to you because you have a worldview which focuses more on the individual than on kinship.

For me, having my family involved wasn't about taking away my choice, it was about having more support.

My parents know me well, and they wanted to help me find someone who shared my values and faith.

" So actually Ilham is making a very positive argument for an arranged marriage, where she's saying, "I didn't feel like I had my choice taken away.

Actually, this was really quite supportive and helpful because I had other people around me to help me.

" Let's check our understanding here.

Why might someone with a WEIRD worldview find arranged marriage difficult to understand?

A.

They believe family should always control marriage decisions.

B.

They assume marriage is mainly about individual independence.

C.

They assume all cultures value kinship more than independence.

D.

They think families force their children into marriages they wouldn't choose.

So, B is making an assumption that marriage is mainly about individual independence rather than thinking into a wider consideration such as family and kinship.

Okay, I would like you to think about everything we've learned today.

We've learned a lot, haven't we, about this idea of a WEIRD perspective?

I've got some statements for you here, and I'd like you to decide how far you agree with them.

And I'd like you to mark your position on a scale from agree totally to disagree.

A.

I would be happy to give blood at a clinic.

B.

I would rather choose my own career than do what my parents do.

C.

If I ever get married, it will be solely my choice without any influence from my family.

D.

I believe the government should provide care for the elderly rather than families.

So all of these statements might be said to reflect a classical WEIRD perspective.

I'd like you to think about: do you agree with them or not?

Would you put yourself for each statement very close to the WEIRD perspective, or would you perhaps put it somewhere along the scale?

And I'd like you to mark each statement with a different score, but you're probably gonna have a different feeling about each of them.

Okay, off you go.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

So what did you think?

You're gonna have had very different ideas, but here are some example answers.

You might've said, A, I feel happy to give blood at a clinic.

So actually, I would mark that very highly.

You might've said, I would choose my own career than rather what my parents would do.

You might have said, if I ever get married, it will solely be my choice without any influence of my family.

And you might have put in the middle, I believe the government should provide care for the elderly rather than families.

I wonder what yours look like and whether some answers were more towards the WEIRD or towards the non-WEIRD.

And I wonder what other people took, as well.

So I'd like you to share your findings with a partner now.

And I'd like you to discuss how easy or difficult was it to put yourself on the scale?

Can you use the WEIRD terminology to describe your perspective?

Do you think the WEIRD perspective is a useful way to approach looking at worldviews?

And can you see any problems with using the WEIRD framework?

Now, you're welcome just to discuss this with a partner or simply to write a paragraph.

It's up to you.

So, you might have said, it was sometimes challenging for us to put ourselves on the scale 'cause our views did not always neatly fit one end or the other.

We had to think about where we belonged.

We found it difficult to use WEIRD terminology because our views were not always WEIRD or non-WEIRD, sometimes they fell between.

We think the WEIRD perspective is useful 'cause it gives a clear way to compare different worldviews and show how culture shapes behavior.

We also see problems with the WEIRD framework 'cause it can make cultures sound too simple, as if they're only WEIRD or non-WEIRD, and it doesn't always capture the mix of influences people experience in real life.

I hope you had an interesting discussion, and I wonder what you thought about these ideas.

Let's summarize what we've been learning today.

So we've been learning about the WEIRD, and that means Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic way of thinking, coined by Joseph Henrich.

We found out that only 12% of people live in WEIRD societies, yet most psychology studies use WEIRD participants.

We've noted that WEIRD values stress individual choice, fairness, independence, and trust in strangers and institutions.

We've also noted that non-WEIRD values emphasize family loyalty, kinship duties, and community-based decisions.

And finally, we've recognized that the WEIRD lens helps avoid assuming Western norms are universal and could foster cultural understanding.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about this perspective today, and maybe it's made you think a little bit about your own worldview and how much context can affect it.

Look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Thank you.