Monkeysphere

[_NOPE_]

This might be treading the line of the taboo "political", though it's more related to science, but I felt the need to share this with everyone that I can. This article CHANGED MY LIFE a few years ago. The provided perspective completely changed the way that I see the world, and has made me a more open-minded, tolerant, and understanding person. Also, it's pretty damn funny too.

 

I present to you, the Monkeysphere:

http://www.monkeysphere.us/

 

Feel free to discuss the implications of Dunbar's Number, with the note that we can't get too specific here due to forum rules. But really, this fact of primate brains really explains SO MUCH, especially the core issue of tribalism that causes so many issues in our society today. We seem to have conflicts, extreme arguments, and such I think primarily because our monkey brains are simply overloaded with the stresses of living in a society, a culture, a WORLD filled with WAY more than 150 people. I feel that almost all of our conflicts can be traced back to this very problem.

 

But how do we solve it? I don't have an answer. I just know that by REALIZING these limitations, we can try to understand how people can become so strongly motivated about things while somehow at the same time become apathetic to other things.

 

I used the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, and downloaded a local copy of the two pages, then stripped out the ads, scripts, sidebars, etc. and smooshed the two into one page, restoring the original format of the article (which has since become broken due to the Cracked.com website changing and nobody bothering to go back and fix the old broken pages). I did this as a public service.

[Rathulfr]

Yeah, I read this a few years back, and it also changed my perspectives.  It's good stuff.

[Nyghtmaire]

Regarding Dunbar’s Number, is there a negative correlation between one’s level of social anxiety and the number of people one would share a drink with at a bar? Or is there a positive correlation, suggesting great concern for others with no desire to actually interact?

 

My questions are only a third serious. What is serious is my thanks for posting. Great food for thought!

[FoulVileTerror]

I wonder if there's also some generational factors at play in this.  While mostly anecdotal, I've seen behaviour which suggests to me that younger people these days are adapting to being more capable of "bigger picture empathy," possibly even thanks to having grown up so deeply entrenched in social media.   I know old fogeys are likely to be quick to dismiss this, as it's tradition for an older generation to decry the perceived failures of younger ones ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD0x7ho_IYc ), claiming ye olde excuses of "in my day, we had conversations face to face!" . . . but frankly . . . the capacity of 20-somethings and teens to extend their "monkeysphere" beyond the 150 is something I feel confident in.

Whether that's related to their neurochemistry, their access to technology, or their generally higher level of education (as I'm basing this on a perspective largely steeped in North American Privilege), I can't guess.  Likely a combination of factors, as it is with most things.