{"id":30,"slug":"dunbar-s-number","name":"Dunbar's number","type":"concept","created_at":"2026-08-08T04:34:31.117952+00:00","hidden":0,"aliases":["Dunbar","Dunbar number"],"episodes":[{"id":"b34bf760-9852-40fc-a338-3c33dd1b3732","slug":"s16e16-not-up-and-to-the-right-just-deeper-really","subject":"s16e16: Not Up and To The Right; Just Deeper, Really; Better Wording Faster; Tools for Remembering; A Centaur for Caring?; Of Course They're Art","title":"Not Up and To The Right; Just Deeper, Really; Better Wording Faster; Tools for Remembering; A Centaur for Caring?; Of Course They're Art","publish_date":"2023-10-19T19:35:01.799791+00:00","year":2023,"month":10,"season":16,"episode":16,"episode_label":"s16e16","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s16e16-not-up-and-to-the-right-just-deeper-really/","is_premium":0,"word_count":3049,"context":" … useful connection? Caring connections? It's here where the <mark>Dunbar number</mark>, however discredited, is something that feels like it should be right, that it wants to be right … ","reading_minutes":15},{"id":"9175a986-997e-469d-97a9-e4b56d82adf2","slug":"s14e09-building-and-documentation-making-new","subject":"s14e09: Building and Documentation; Making New Mistakes; Eternal Tumblr; Governance in the Early Days of a Better Nation","title":"Building and Documentation; Making New Mistakes; Eternal Tumblr; Governance in the Early Days of a Better Nation","publish_date":"2023-01-25T19:24:14.139676+00:00","year":2023,"month":1,"season":14,"episode":9,"episode_label":"s14e09","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s14e09-building-and-documentation-making-new/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2586,"context":null,"reading_minutes":13},{"id":"386ffe25-df66-49e3-97a2-47b1bd94b778","slug":"s13e23-colliders-speedrunning-benevolent","subject":"s13e23: Colliders; Speedrunning; Benevolent Dictators Have Significant Failure States; Verification Deserts; The Inflationary epoch","title":"Colliders; Speedrunning; Benevolent Dictators Have Significant Failure States; Verification Deserts; The Inflationary epoch","publish_date":"2022-11-22T19:49:34.747989+00:00","year":2022,"month":11,"season":13,"episode":23,"episode_label":"s13e23","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s13e23-colliders-speedrunning-benevolent/","is_premium":0,"word_count":3002,"context":null,"reading_minutes":15},{"id":"be5f8088-eb29-41a9-ae32-c7a8e9ab6eee","slug":"s11e43-didnt-organize-only-moved-context-collapse","subject":"s11e43: Didn't Organize, Only Moved; Context Collapse","title":"Didn't Organize, Only Moved; Context Collapse","publish_date":"2022-04-28T18:31:22.953263+00:00","year":2022,"month":4,"season":11,"episode":43,"episode_label":"s11e43","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s11e43-didnt-organize-only-moved-context-collapse/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2100,"context":null,"reading_minutes":10},{"id":"fd492fb7-7f25-4dd4-b3e6-ad567129061f","slug":"s07extra04-decentralized","subject":"s07extra04: \"Decentralized?!\"","title":"\"Decentralized?!\"","publish_date":"2019-10-19T03:35:28.514000+00:00","year":2019,"month":10,"season":7,"episode":4,"episode_label":"s07extra04","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s07extra04-decentralized/","is_premium":1,"word_count":1769,"context":" … Ambient internet\nSome mail from Nick Sweeney in response to last episode’s mention of the <mark>Dunbar Number</mark> Again and what it takes for online local groups to … ","reading_minutes":9},{"id":"27e7000b-b2ee-4e51-96b1-fd1569a3cd7a","slug":"s07e14-dunbars-goose-and-the-pump-handle","subject":"s07e14: Dunbar’s Goose and the Pump Handle","title":"Dunbar’s Goose and the Pump Handle","publish_date":"2019-10-17T03:44:27.474000+00:00","year":2019,"month":10,"season":7,"episode":14,"episode_label":"s07e14","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s07e14-dunbars-goose-and-the-pump-handle/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2703,"context":" … For those who aren’t familiar with Robin <mark>Dunbar’s number</mark>, let me do a quick Wikipedia précis: it’s a 1990s suggestion by Robin Dunbar, a British … ","reading_minutes":14},{"id":"b5f2c63c-d397-4c5c-b138-0c89d8c2c45e","slug":"s06e07-firebreak-protocol","subject":"s06e07: Firebreak Protocol","title":"Firebreak Protocol","publish_date":"2018-10-05T00:00:00+00:00","year":2018,"month":10,"season":6,"episode":7,"episode_label":"s06e07","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s06e07-firebreak-protocol/","is_premium":0,"word_count":5446,"context":" … The idea being that openness wins which, okay, that’s a nice saying, but maybe, just maybe the thing about the <mark>Dunbar number</mark> that a group of increasingly … ","reading_minutes":27},{"id":"e544dcc3-a45f-48cc-9676-57ed23633a21","slug":"s06e07-probably-not-gutless","subject":"s06e07: Probably Not Gutless","title":"Probably Not Gutless","publish_date":"2018-09-06T00:00:00+00:00","year":2018,"month":9,"season":6,"episode":7,"episode_label":"s06e07","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s06e07-probably-not-gutless/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1672,"context":" … a \"global networked community\"? Look, yes, there's all the stuff about the <mark>Dunbar number</mark>. But I feel like Facebook and Twitter - with things like global search and … ","reading_minutes":8},{"id":"108fb799-b610-45bf-a4da-d659e63b0e98","slug":"s3e31-not-actually-a-law","subject":"s3e31: Not Actually A Law","title":"Not Actually A Law","publish_date":"2016-10-25T00:00:00+00:00","year":2016,"month":10,"season":3,"episode":31,"episode_label":"s03e31","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s3e31-not-actually-a-law/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1059,"context":null,"reading_minutes":5},{"id":"8d002db3-e820-4b6f-809f-2b889e39cce1","slug":"s3e27-its-difficult","subject":"s3e27: It's Difficult","title":"It's Difficult","publish_date":"2016-09-09T00:00:00+00:00","year":2016,"month":9,"season":3,"episode":27,"episode_label":"s03e27","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s3e27-its-difficult/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2783,"context":null,"reading_minutes":14},{"id":"44c25f02-584a-4176-94be-2257c53c5b0b","slug":"s3e26-the-defense-of-humanity-act","subject":"s3e26: The Defense of Humanity Act","title":"The Defense of Humanity Act","publish_date":"2016-07-19T00:00:00+00:00","year":2016,"month":7,"season":3,"episode":26,"episode_label":"s03e26","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s3e26-the-defense-of-humanity-act/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1061,"context":" … Right? Not people who use computing infrastructure to support kinship groups radically larger than their <mark>Dunbar number</mark>. Is a large <mark>Dunbar number</mark> something that will be legislated against … ","reading_minutes":5},{"id":"914847dc-c0aa-44da-b2fd-fd06db00c4e6","slug":"episode-one-hundred-and-ninety-five","subject":"Episode One Hundred and Ninety Five:","title":"Episode One Hundred and Ninety Five:","publish_date":"2015-02-20T00:00:00+00:00","year":2015,"month":2,"season":null,"episode":195,"episode_label":"episode 195","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/episode-one-hundred-and-ninety-five/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2954,"context":" … One for friends - that holds quite steady at the <mark>Dunbar number</mark> - and a \"public\". Friends have said that they're sometimes surprised at where I draw the line … ","reading_minutes":15},{"id":"46dd0040-1e21-4990-8ed1-e67b62090089","slug":"episode-one-hundred-and-seventy-six-not-missing","subject":"Episode One Hundred and Seventy Six: Not Missing Out","title":"Not Missing Out","publish_date":"2014-10-10T00:00:00+00:00","year":2014,"month":10,"season":null,"episode":176,"episode_label":"episode 176","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/episode-one-hundred-and-seventy-six-not-missing/","is_premium":0,"word_count":570,"context":" … Tilde.club as a way of huddling close, a way of preserving that small <mark>Dunbar number</mark>, even in a large group of a thousand.\n\n\n\nSo, perhaps two user … ","reading_minutes":3},{"id":"1102478c-efc7-4336-a845-7313d390c921","slug":"episode-three-happy-birthday-and-connections","subject":"Episode Three: Happy Birthday and Connections","title":"Happy Birthday and Connections","publish_date":"2014-01-27T00:00:00+00:00","year":2014,"month":1,"season":null,"episode":3,"episode_label":"episode 3","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/episode-three-happy-birthday-and-connections/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1434,"context":" … you know what would be great? If we hacked away the <mark>Dunbar number</mark> as a constraint on the number of social connections we're able to maintain. And … ","reading_minutes":7}]}