Stuff You Should Know Short Stuff: Dunbar's Number
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May 3, 2023 Ever wondered how many friends you can realistically keep? There's a theory that suggests around 150 is the magic number! The discussion dives into Dunbar's Number, linking brain size to social connections across species. Hear personal tales about making friends as adults and how social media impacts our relationships. Plus, learn how this limit affects communities and the dynamics of our social lives. Can you even maintain that many meaningful connections? Tune in for insights and a few relatable anecdotes!
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Friendship Capacity
- As people get older, making new friends, especially adding to existing groups, becomes less common.
- This isn't just due to disinterest, but potentially a cognitive limit on the number of friendships we can maintain.
Dunbar's Number
- British anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggests there's a limit to the number of friends we can have.
- He believes this limit is related to the size of our neocortex, the brain part handling language and cognition.
Neocortex and Social Groups
- Dunbar's theory proposes a ratio between neocortex size and the number of manageable relationships.
- He studied primates, finding a correlation, and applied this to humans, suggesting a limit of 150 friends.