Scaling in Human Societies

This post discusses the expansion of cooperation in the Neolithic, the current geological epoch that began 11,700 years ago in the Near-East. We will explore three hypotheses: that food surpluses, that institutions, and that common threats such as warfare are major drivers of cooperation. [Read More]

The conventional narrative of early human cooperation is that, for most of human history, people lived in small, isolated bands. Social bonds were based on kinship, and the ability of people to personally keep track of relationships limited the size of functional social groups. Dunbar’s number, which is that this... [Read More]

To understand the nature of scaling in human societies, we need to understand how humans are able to cooperate in large numbers. This, in turn, requires that we understand cooperation. Cooperation on a large scale is uncommon among non-human animals, and when it does occur, it tends to be of... [Read More]

In what kind of cities are people the healthiest and happiest? The research on this question is murky, and a big part of the challenge is identifying a consistent notion of wellbeing. [Read More]

Characteristics of a city, including its size, have a qualitative effect on how people live. [Read More]