Being WEIRD: How Culture Shapes The Mind

Everyone has played board games throughout their childhood years. The games might differ from each other but they all somewhat represent the culture each person lives in. I personally loved to play board games in my spare time as a child. It really brought the family together and helped pass the time. But I never thought, as I played a game, that it somehow represented the American culture. I was born in America, so I am very familiar with the American culture. It is so interesting to see something as a board game, can reflect a society’s culture. By doing that, the game in a sense can influence the way a child thinks. In Ethan Watters’ essay, “Being WEIRD: How Culture Shapes the Mind,” he explains how culture can shape the way a person

The game goes back and forth until one of the players sinks all of the other player’s ships. This clearly demonstrates the core of American culture because the United States always wanted and will always have the strongest military. It is considered the one and only super-power in the world. America has been in many wars, including one that helped it gain its independence from Great Britain. The U.S. never backs-down, they want to crush their opponent. They don’t want to be the losers. But to be successful, the military have to come up with strategies that will help them win the battle. Just like the game, the U.S. military places their ships and tanks in strategic places and tries to beat their enemy before the enemy beats them. In the article, Watters goes on to say, “That we in the West develop brains that are wired to see ourselves as separate from others may also be connected to differences in how we reason.” (Watters 501). I believe that is the reason the United States remains to be the ultimate super-power in the world. We look at all scenarios before making a decision. That is why America comes out victorious at the end. There have been some sad cases where the United States lost, but it always learns from its mistakes and becomes stronger. The army will always be in the center of American