Culture of honor
In this brilliantly argued book, the authors explore the reasons behind the higher rate for homicides among whites in the southern United States. They discover that it isn't socioeconomic class, population density, the legacy of slavery, or the heat of the South; it is the traditional "culture of honor" - in which a man's reputation is seen as central to his economic survival - that makes the difference.
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2recommend
5mentions
2people
2012–2022years
100% recommend
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What Hacker News says
- A book that made me see how carefully and how well we can ascertain a nebulous concept in social science:
Culture Of Honor: The Psychology Of Violence In The South by Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen
https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Honor-Psychology-Violence-Dir...
The authors use a variety of independent evidence (historic, lab experiments, etc) to show that a culture of honor exists, what it is, how it is perpetuated, and how we can make predictions based on it. This book is superb!
- Thank you for sharing! This paper is absolutely amazing -- AND it came out in 1977!
Telling More Than We Can Know: Verbal Reports on Mental Processes by Richard E. Nisbett and Timothy D. Wilson
Both researchers have had amazing careers since then. Timothy Wilson's book Strangers to Ourselves is one I recommend to everyone. It is a continuation of the work in the paper you link to. Nisbett's books are excellent too; my favorite (a must-read!) is Culture of Honor: The Psychology of Violence in the South. Any student of psychology should know these works.
- In psychology, I think Culture of Honor is absolutely stellar:
Culture of Honor: The Psychology of Violence in the South by Richard E. Nisbett & Dov Cohen
https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Honor-Psychology-Violence-Dir...
The authors weave together a basically airtight argument for their thesis, drawing on historical, sociological, and experimental evidence to describe and explain the phenomenon called "culture of honor". It's a short book and really worth reading to see how well an argument can be made.
- I have found (academic) analytic philosophy to be a great way to slow down and think clearly. So I propose exposing yourself to well-thought-out arguments to see the kinds of "moves" people make.
A good place to start may be with the book by Daniel Dennett: Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking https://www.amazon.com/Intuition-Pumps-Other-Tools-Thinking-...
Similarly, it's great to read good science books with careful arguments. One of the best I think is Culture of Honor: The Psychology of Violence in the South https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Honor-Psychology-Violence-Dir... -- the authors use a variety of independent experiments to make their conclusions.
In general, it's probably worth learning a bunch of psychology too - to understand others better (along with the variety of cognitive biases people have). A classic book in this direction is Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational https://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Revised-Expand...
- From one of our evil scientists:
Why [Everyone Else] Is a Hypocrite -Kurzban How The Mind Works -Pinker The Stuff of Thought -Pinker The Evolution of Human Sexuality -Symons Where Mathematics Comes From -Lakoff & Nunez Passions Within Reason -Frank Culture of Honor -Nisbett & Cohen
