What is an example of dunbar's number?

The company that splits: Many firms reorganise around the point a team passes ~150, when everyone can no longer just know everyone.

Where do you see dunbar's number in everyday life?

The company that splits; 1,000 'friends' online; The village size; Wedding guest cuts; The group chat that dies.

Treat your relationship budget as finite: protect the inner circles of ~5 and ~15 before tending a vast shallow network.

Curated by Paulo de Vries · reviewed 2026-06-01

We can only maintain about 150 stable relationships at once — our social brain has a ceiling. Past it, connections get thin and impersonal.

The company that splits
Many firms reorganise around the point a team passes ~150, when everyone can no longer just know everyone.
1,000 'friends' online
A huge follower count isn't 1,000 real relationships; only a small inner circle is truly maintained.
The village size
Traditional communities and military units often cluster near 150 — the size where informal bonds still hold.
Wedding guest cuts
The list balloons, then reality forces it back toward the people you actually keep up with.
The group chat that dies
Add too many people and the intimacy that made it work quietly evaporates.

Treat your relationship budget as finite: protect the inner circles of ~5 and ~15 before tending a vast shallow network.
For groups: expect trust-based coordination to need structure and sub-groups once it grows past ~150.
Don't mistake follower counts for relationships — thousands of weak ties don't raise your capacity for the few real ones.

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