from The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell
. . . To be someone's best friend requires a minimum investment in time. More than that, though, it takes emotional energy. Caring about someone deeply is exhausting. At a certain point, somewhere between 10 and 15 people, we begin to overload. . . .
...
Humans socialize in the largest groups of all primates because we are the only animals with brains large enough to handle the social complexities of that social arrangement. [Robin] Dunbar has actually developed an equation, which works for most primates, in which he plugs in what he calls the neocortex ratio of a particular species -- the size of the neocortex relative to the size of the brain -- and the equation spits out the expected maximum group size of the animal. If you plug in the neocortex size for Homo sapiens, you get a group estimate of 147.8 -- or roughly 150. The number 150 seems to be the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship, the kind of relationship that goes with knowing who they are and how they relate to us. . . .
Dunbar has combed through the anthropological literature and found that number 150 pops up again and again.
Malcom Gladwell (Canadian, born 1963) is the best-selling author of such non-fiction books as -- besides The Tipping Point -- Blink and Outliers. He lives in New York City and writes for The New Yorker.
by Malcolm Gladwell
. . . To be someone's best friend requires a minimum investment in time. More than that, though, it takes emotional energy. Caring about someone deeply is exhausting. At a certain point, somewhere between 10 and 15 people, we begin to overload. . . .
...
Humans socialize in the largest groups of all primates because we are the only animals with brains large enough to handle the social complexities of that social arrangement. [Robin] Dunbar has actually developed an equation, which works for most primates, in which he plugs in what he calls the neocortex ratio of a particular species -- the size of the neocortex relative to the size of the brain -- and the equation spits out the expected maximum group size of the animal. If you plug in the neocortex size for Homo sapiens, you get a group estimate of 147.8 -- or roughly 150. The number 150 seems to be the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship, the kind of relationship that goes with knowing who they are and how they relate to us. . . .
Dunbar has combed through the anthropological literature and found that number 150 pops up again and again.
Malcom Gladwell (Canadian, born 1963) is the best-selling author of such non-fiction books as -- besides The Tipping Point -- Blink and Outliers. He lives in New York City and writes for The New Yorker.
