Why You Can Only Truly Know 150 People: The Dunbar Effect

You are carrying more names in your pocket than most of your ancestors met in a lifetime. Yet on a terrible night, you would probably call fewer than five people. The real answer is far stranger than loneliness. In this video, you will discover how a thin layer of tissue in your brain, the neocortex, set a limit on the number of people you can truly know. You will meet Oxford anthropologist Robin Dunbar and the primate research behind Dunbar's number. You will see why the number 150 appears in hunter-gatherer clans, Hutterite colonies, and even a study of Christmas card lists. And you will learn why social media never changed your inner circle of close friends, and what you can do about it today. If this made you think of someone you have drifted from, like the video, leave a comment with who you would call, and subscribe for more stories about the human mind. #DunbarsNumber #DunbarEffect #RobinDunbar #SocialBrainHypothesis #HumanEvolution #Anthropology #Psychology #Friendship #Loneliness #SocialMedia #Neocortex #EvolutionaryPsychology #HumanBehavior #HumanHistory #Neuroscience #Relationships #MentalHealth #AncientHumans #EducationalVideo #DoodleAnimation