Human group size puzzle: why it is odd that we live in large societies

Human groups tend to be much larger than those of non-human primates. This is a puzzle. When ecological factors do not limit primate group size, the problem of coordination creates an upper threshold even when cooperation is guaranteed. This paper offers a model of group coordination towards behavio...

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Published in:Royal Society open science 2023-08, Vol.10 (8), p.230559-230559
Main Author: David-Barrett, Tamas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
agent-based model
behavioural synchrony
coordination
group size
Organismal and Evolutionary Biology
social networks
social technologies
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description Human groups tend to be much larger than those of non-human primates. This is a puzzle. When ecological factors do not limit primate group size, the problem of coordination creates an upper threshold even when cooperation is guaranteed. This paper offers a model of group coordination towards behavioural synchrony to spell out the mechanics of group size limits, and thus shows why it is odd that humans live in large societies. The findings suggest that many of our species' evolved social behaviours and culturally maintained social technologies emerged as solutions to this problem.
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subjects agent-based model
behavioural synchrony
coordination
group size
Organismal and Evolutionary Biology
social networks
social technologies
title Human group size puzzle: why it is odd that we live in large societies
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