Captain's Phlog 2020.03.27
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NOW:
Is today Thu... No. Friday. Yes, today's Friday. We've been
'Hermiting' since last Tuesday - St. Patrick's Day - and at
this point I can't really tell you what day of the week it
is, or the date for that matter, without referencing some
form of digital device. If you don't 'X' off days with near
religious devotion a wall calendar is useless.
SMALL DATA:
For those of you playing along at home, preliminary results
would seem to indicate that a household of two middle aged
persons eating a balanced diet containing recommended levels
of fiber use a roll of 1000 sheet single ply toilet paper in
4.5 days.
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-+- WHAT DUNBAR'S NUMBER MEANS TO ME -+-
"If only one man dies of hunger, that is
a tragedy. If millions die, that's only
statistics."
-Stalin
In the Grand Scheme of things each of us is equally
important. Upon my passing, the dust I leave behind will be
indistinguishable from yours. Or if you like, my soul will
be measured on the same scales as yours. I feel I need to
make this point clearly in the offing lest what unfolds in
the coming paragraphs smack of elitism or narcissism.
Too, I'm deeply thankful for your stories. Your phlog posts
add depth and color to my life. Your troubles and successes
broaden my outlook. Your technical expertise imparts
knowledge. I share many of your fears. I respectfully
recognize your difficulties and celebrate in some small way
your triumphs.
That said, I can care for you no more that I would for a
character in a favorite work of fiction. You might as well
be Pierre Bezukhov or Samwise Gamgee. (( I was just struck
by how this is like the weirdest "Dear John" letter ever ))
It's my belief that this is a Truth, not unique to me. It's
at the core of each and every one of us and our failing to
recognize this is a big-ass pea under our mattress.
My dear disembodied electrons, I give you Dunbar's Number.
[1] Explained colloquially, it is "the number of people you
would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a
drink if you happened to bump into them in a bar".
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar found this to be ~150 persons.
There is a competing value proposed by Bernard-Killworth of
~230 or so. I'm not married to the former. The latter still
makes my point. I am aware of the criticisms of this number.
I dismiss them, not out of hand but this entry shall not
ramble into those reasons!
Let's call this value (where 300>n>100) one's Village... or
Clan, or Tribe. I prefer 'Village' because it sounds more
inclusive and less in-group/out-group to my ears.
The persons in your Dunbar Group are not fixed over time.
Like a Village, people come and people go. Some are born
into it, some will die, and some are run out with pitchforks
in their wake. It's all part of the pageant.
Has it taken you one minute to read up until this point? In
that time an estimated 105 people have left this earth. [2]
Were a great writer to turn those life stories into a book
would we weep? Certainly. The human pageant is compelling.
Turn to the Obituaries in the Podunk Weekly Shit-rag and
select one at random. Were they a decent person? Did they
live a good life? Did they touch people? Likely so. Will
you attend their wake? No. Enough of this! I've no doubt you
see my point.
"Global media tugs at your heart strings to
sell advertising and for no other reason."
-Me
This, at long last, is my point. Media, both Social and
Institutional, sets our spirits adrift. Our brains, set in
paths ancient even when the concept of 'Human' was minted,
have not - could not possibly - adjust this BIOS level
programming in the blink of an eye that is the 'modern'
epoch. We are able to truly care, deeply and successfully,
about our Village. The sensitivities we develop from a more
cosmopolitan world view must certainly inform our better
natures but it's a trap to not see them for what they are
and when we allow them to hobble our true communal spheres.
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May you have the strength to care for those you love.
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number
[2] Not counting alien abductees or cosmonauts.
