tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post1294400836971544926..comments2024-02-11T15:29:31.409-05:00Comments on Richard's Pretension: SapientRichard Bellushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-41348274990663389222015-04-10T14:20:29.317-04:002015-04-10T14:20:29.317-04:00Ok, I'll buy that premise. :)
To override...Ok, I'll buy that premise. :) <br /><br />To override that 150 premise might make a good SF story or novel--something chemical or bio-mechanical, chemical that can be worn or something akin to a brainwashing process like in A Clockwork Orange.El Voxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05985563041511492981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-42876234174292996162015-04-08T19:46:39.699-04:002015-04-08T19:46:39.699-04:00I’m glad the review struck your fancy about the bo...I’m glad the review struck your fancy about the book enough to look it up on Amazon. I don’t buy into everything Harari has to say, but he does make a pretty good case on some of his big points.<br /><br />150 is a number I’ve encountered before in this context. Anthropologists generally agree that 100-150 is the common maximum group size of hunter-gatherer bands. (A 20-50 range as a subdivision of 150, also recurs, but the bigger number is the key one.) In a larger population it’s hard for members to keep track of each other’s personal details – we’re not wired to handle much more. When bands get bigger they split in two. There is a correlation in primate species between cortex development and the size of the close social groups they can maintain. Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar did the math on this and came up with 148.3 for humans. He then looked at 21 surviving hunter-gatherer groups in various environments and found the average population to be 148.4. People in more advanced societies recreate those group sizes. The average Christmas card list is 154. Armies commonly have units about this size, e.g. the Roman centuries or US Army companies. While people may have hundreds of facebook “friends” they rarely interact regularly with more than 150 of them. Dunbar refers to the (independently reached) sociological principle that groups larger than 150-200 need a central authority to maintain order and cohesion, while smaller groups often can get by with informal controls (i.e. peer pressure). This is one reason small towns typically are safe. In her book “I See Rude People” Amy Alkon notes that you can’t very well hold up the local liquor store when the owner knows your mother.<br /><br />It may well be that in order to get ourselves to care about more than our particular 150 group – something we are not pre-wired to do – we need some mythological help<br />Richard Bellushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-41450618073472410212015-04-08T14:00:47.646-04:002015-04-08T14:00:47.646-04:00Sounds like an interesting book, and I had to go o...Sounds like an interesting book, and I had to go over to Amazon to investigate it further. Seems there plenty of ideas that he talks about to think about (and blow your mind). It's hard for me to imagine early man 2,000 years ago no less earlier, and that we evolved from chimpanzees. I don't feel alone however in trying to wrap my head around that concept. <br /><br />The idea of imagined or abstract concepts to form societies is a strange one too: religion, money, nations. It would be nice if humans could bio-engineer a way to get along better, maintain order, and prevent annihilation. I'm not sure how that would happen or work out, but it probably wouldn't be without some sort of coup/resistance. Unless you could secretly slip it by or into our cultures & others as well. <br /><br />I was watching a BBC nature program called The Planet (I believe), it was one that dealt with the ocean, and how was wowed at how symbiotically different species work together thru nature. Humans seem to separate ourselves away from the other species. I wonder how he came up with the 150 number as a network for groups? I assume from research, but seems awfully pat (granted I'm sure he using using it more to make a point). One of the scenes in the Ocean series, however, show a school of dolphins and how they'd work together to corral a bunch of fish together in order to eat them. I thought that was an amazing bit of nature. <br /><br />Thanks for the review, sounded plenty food for thought.<br />El Voxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05985563041511492981noreply@blogger.com