Get in groups of 150
Found a blog entry that does a good job of summarizing some of Dunbar's "Social Brain hypothesis." To me, Dunbar's work is interesting until it gets obsessed with neocortex size. Until cetaceans like dolphins can bomb Lebanon or over fish large swaths of ocean (or small ones) and produce an equivalent to the Macarena, it appears that big brains and even wrinklier brains do not guarantee symbolic capacity and language development.
On the other hand, the entry is interesting because it points to the repeated upper social limit of 150. This is something that the evolution of language people will want to keep and eye on. Read on for quotes from the post.
"150 seems to be the largest grouping in which everyone knows everyone else, “in which they know not simply who is who but also how each one is related to the others” (grooming, page 71). This number roughly equates to the number of living descendents a person would expect an ancestral couple to produce after four generations (Grooming, page 71). Various experiments have shown that 150 is a significant number in many sorts of human groupings. A recent study of the Church of England showed that the ideal size for congregations was less than 200. During World War II, a company has stabilized in size at around 170 soldiers. A study of Christmas card distribution lists showed that a typical person who sends such cards sends them to approximately 154 individuals."
On the other hand, the entry is interesting because it points to the repeated upper social limit of 150. This is something that the evolution of language people will want to keep and eye on. Read on for quotes from the post.
"150 seems to be the largest grouping in which everyone knows everyone else, “in which they know not simply who is who but also how each one is related to the others” (grooming, page 71). This number roughly equates to the number of living descendents a person would expect an ancestral couple to produce after four generations (Grooming, page 71). Various experiments have shown that 150 is a significant number in many sorts of human groupings. A recent study of the Church of England showed that the ideal size for congregations was less than 200. During World War II, a company has stabilized in size at around 170 soldiers. A study of Christmas card distribution lists showed that a typical person who sends such cards sends them to approximately 154 individuals."
posted by Andrea Mates at 12:08 PM
1 Comments:
Interesting notion about 150.
I agree with you that symbolic interpretation has nothing to do with brain size or wrinkles. It does not.
I second Don that living beings are only interested in things that are immidiate, important, and meaningful to them. If that thing needs symbolic interpretation, they will do it with as little as NS as possible.
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