The Daily Stat: Wheat and Rice Cultivation Have Deep Cultural Impacts

 

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May 20, 2014 Wheat and Rice Cultivation Have Deep Cultural Impacts When research subjects were asked to draw diagrams depicting their social networks, people from rice-growing and wheat-growing regions tended to respond differently: Those from rice areas drew themselves as smaller (in relation to their friends) than wheat-area people did, according to research conducted by Thomas Talhelm of the University of Virginia and reported in The Atlantic. The finding suggests that rice farming, which requires extensive social coordination, creates a culture of collectivism. Talhelm surveyed 1,162 university students in China, where rice is grown mostly in the south and wheat is raised and eaten in the north. SOURCE: Does Growing Rice Make You Less Individualistic?

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