Archive for January, 2008
Dunbar’s Number
January 30th, 2008
Dunbar’s number represents a theoretical upper limit to the number of people with whom a person can carry on a useful social relationship. It’s also therefore the largest an organization can become without needing some sort of management to remain stable.
This number was estimated/calculated by Robin Dunbar in 1992 based on studies of groups of primates. The whole concept was wonderfully discussed in Inside the Monkeysphere, a short article by David Wong, the author of the much-acclaimed John Dies at the End.
Apparently the book The Tipping Point really popularized the idea, but I have to confess that I haven’t yet read it.
The Open Society (and Its Enemies)
January 27th, 2008
Most of Karl Popper’s work actually involved the philosophy of science, but he also wrote a fairly in-depth critique of the philosophical underpinnings of totalitarianism. I’m currently reading volume 1, which rips apart The Republic. I doubt Plato’s pseudo-mystical brand of fascism really needed another poor review, but the book was published at the end of WWII, so this sort of thing was in vogue.
Volume 2, which I have yet to read, features a thorough criticism of Hegel and Marx.
Also! Despite what you may have assumed from my current updating schedule, I am, in fact, still alive.
The RonPaulMobile
January 11th, 2008
We passed a monster very much like this one somewhere in Alabama. We were instructed to honk, but didn’t.
Actually, Ron Paul seems to have a pretty impressive following. His signs are the only (non-local) political ads we’ve seen on this trip.
Mummers
January 1st, 2008
Harry Schwartz has never taken acid, which makes his flashback all the more confusingly terrifying.