[drewprops]

I read an article in a computer industry magazine recently about Bill Gates which, among other things, described how researchers have determined that the size of primates social networks are determined by the size of their brains and that we can only manage a finite number of personal relationships. That's why big numbers of deaths in natural disasters is so hard for us to process... most of the time we just can't deal with really big numbers...

and then today I run across this article (via Digg) about "The Monkeysphere" on Cracked.com

Read this VERY funny and VERY true article as soon as you can, like NOW.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by drewprops Read this VERY funny and VERY true article as soon as you can, like NOW.

Unless, like everyone else in the world, you already know it.

J/k.

[World Leader Pretend]

I really enjoyed that article..

[Banana]

Makes sense.

I've pondered the problem of envisioning a large number. For instance, we can tell immediately how many space we need for 3 person in a given room without using any measuring tools other than eyeballing the space needed. If we progress upward to 20, we still can get more or less accurate guess, but once we get to 50, the guess, IMO, would start to go off, and terribly more so when we get to 1,000.

Also, I've tried to envision how many people I could "see" in my imagination. It's not too difficult for me to conjure up a handful of my friends. I can move onward to my class picture, which probably has 20 to 30 student in a given class. (Mind you, we're talking an accurate count of faces being imagined). But beyond that, I start to lose count of how many faces I've seen and therefore cannot quite extrapolate 100 faces into 200, let alone 1,000.

Another case was trying to guess how many students there were in an auditorium then proceed to count. Interestingly, my estimate usually were much more off when the auditorium was larger and I tend to overestimate; thinking I saw five hundred when there were actually two hundred or so.

The article confirms what I've suspected about our conceptions, and shows why "billiions and billions" can be just as well be infinite to us.

Has anyone else tried similar experimentations?

[Freewell]

Hmm... I think this whole 'monkeyshere' explanation could have been improved if it would have incorporated crazychester's conspiracy theory and teh infamous Pooh Log!

[drewprops]

Oh there's poo in it for sure...

For those too lazy to read that really fun article, the basic tenets are:

1. Researchers have asserted that most humans are unable to recognize individuality in a group exceeding 150 people. This would mean that you have trouble comprehending people as individuals when those small groups of people become large crowds.

2. Accompanying that sense of anonymity that you get when you perceive crowds as crowds (and not as groups of individuals) is a lessened sense of moral obligation, especially when dealing with those same people in their large "faceless" groups... we're far more likely to "stick it to" that group than we would be if it that group was an individual.... that's (apparently) how our brains work.

3. Don't feel bad about it. Our brains are just as limited as yours and we're doing it right back at you.



.

[Freewell]

Yes... But you forgot to mention the unre-poo-diated "ShitTosser!"

(Seems there is one in every society!)

[Moogs]

Mad proppage to Drew. That is the best article I've read in a long time. Thanks, man.

[BuonRotto]

Originally Posted by drewprops Oh there's poo in it for sure... For those too lazy to read that really fun article, the basic tenets are: 1. [snip] 2. [snip] 3. [/snip]

quoted from the article: And finally, DON'T LET ANYBODY simplify it for you. The world cannot be made simple. Anyone who tries to paint a picture of the world in basic comic book colors is most likely trying to use you as a pawn.

So stop trying to simplify the article, dammit. I am not your (grey?) poo pawn!

[curiousuburb]

Damn You! Damn You All To Hell!

</Heston>

[crazychester]

Originally Posted by Freewell Hmm... I think this whole 'monkeyshere' explanation could have been improved if it would have incorporated crazychester's conspiracy theory and teh infamous Pooh Log!

I don't know what this is about. I haven't read the thread and I couldn't be bothered. But I don't deal in conspiracy theories Freewell only in facts. And I've had two years of dealing with manipulative fucked up liars. I don't need to add another one to the list and as you can see I'm not in the fucking mood for anybody's crap right now.

So in future, if you don't know shit, shut-the-fuck-up.

[Bryson]

CC: I'm pretty sure Freewell was just joking. We do that shit here, remember?

[cosus]

Originally Posted by crazychester I don't know what this is about. I haven't read the thread and I couldn't be bothered. But I don't deal in conspiracy theories Freewell only in facts. And I've had two years of dealing with manipulative fucked up liars. I don't need to add another one to the list and as you can see I'm not in the fucking mood for anybody's crap right now. So in future, if you don't know shit, shut-the-fuck-up.

I sure see something spewing out of this one... and it don't smell like petunias.

[Freewell]

Hey crazychester! Yeah, I was just funnin' around... No insult intended at all. I honestly thought you would see the humor in it the way I meant it. My communication is probably a bit off. I've had a few things on my mind lately. Truly... I am sorry to hear you have had a rough day too... Hope it gets better for you.

[Oompa Loompa]

Can I flea someone here? You maybe, crazychester? I'm really good at it!