#social-networks

#social-networks

What do social climbers and gossipmongers have in common? My mother would tell me that both are morally suspect. This moral umbrage is etched into lessons from fairy tales and scripture that we readily pass on to our children: Avoid the schemer and the whisperer. But stories are known to simplify reality. The truth is that that the most effective gossipers and social climbers possess a remarkable grasp of social structure, knowledge they use to cleverly navigate their social worlds.

Dunbar suggests that the maximum number of relationships an individual can sustain is about 150, encapsulated in the theory known as 'Dunbar's Number.'