Social Darwinism: The Robin Dunbar Approach
A very well written review of one of Robin Dunbar’s works which actually explains the idea behind his thinking. I personally came across this concept a little over a year back and it made quite a lot of sense. Irrespective of the social networking phenomenon, there is always a compact social group beyond which things are rather arbitrary. This is a very interesting read.
To know more on Dunbar’s Number, you can read the Wikipedia article about it here.
Michele Pridmore-BrownRobin Dunbar
How Many Friends Does One Person Need? Dunbar’s Number and Other Evolutionary Quirks
Harvard University Press, 2010. 312 pp.
In May 1846, a year and a half before gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, several extended families and quite a few unattached males headed with their caravans from Illinois to California. Due to poor organization, some bad advice, and a huge dose of bad luck, by November the group had foundered in the deep snows of the Sierra Nevada. They came to a halt at what is now known as Donner Pass, and, in an iconic if unpleasant moment in California’s history, they sat out winter in makeshift tents buried in snow, the group dwindling as survivors resorted to cannibalism to avert starvation.
From an evolutionary point of view, what makes the story interesting is not the cannibalism — which, in the annals of anthropology, is relatively banal — but who survived and who did not. Of the 87 pioneers, only 46 came over the pass alive in February and March of the next year. Their story, then, represents a case study of what might be termed catastrophic natural selection. It turns out that, contrary to lay Darwinist expectations, it was not the virile young but those who were embedded in families who had the best odds of survival. The unattached young men, presumably fuller of vigor and capable of withstanding more physical hardship than the others, fared worst, worse even than the older folk and the children.
Just Watched: The Social Network
When I first heard that David Fincher was making the so-called “Facebook movie,” I wondered what kind of film he’d actually end up making considering his previous body of work, which include gems like Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac. I, like most others, didn’t really know how something like this could be shown in the form of a full-length feature film, and not a documentary of sorts. The trailer for this film sure did look interesting, but showed that there wasn’t really a documentary feel to the proceedings, which was good.
When Bhagyalakshmi came up with the idea of going to watch the film, most of the others were non-committal, except for Vishnu. Yashik came along expecting what we initially expected, and he, like BL, Vishnu and me, was pleasantly surprised. Fincher has managed to adapt Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires for the big screen with style, thanks to a superb screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.
For the entire duration of a film we see Mark Zuckerberg, played by the brilliant Jesse Eisenberg, as the antihero who has gone to some rather unusual lengths to satiate his bruised ego. Actors like Andrew Garfield (playing Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg’s roommate, and partner), Rooney Mara (as Erica Albright, the girl who dumps Zuckerberg here, after declaring that he’s an asshole) and Armie Hammer (playing both the Winklevoss twins) only add to the film’s charisma with its razor-sharp dialogue and amazing one-liners. Justin Timberlake (as Sean Parker, the guy who founded Napster) made me hate the character he played, and that, I guess is a good thing considering how much of an impact the character makes in the Zuckerberg-Saverin equation with his antics.
At the end of the day, this film is about the male ego (something Fincher has dealt a lot with before) and the damage that it can do. Here, Facebook is Zuckerberg’s online ego, which keeps inflating, even though Zuckerberg remains what he was in the first place- alone, with rather fascinating cards, which say- “I’m CEO, bitch.”
One of this year’s very best, no doubt about that.
Personal Rating: 8.7/10
“
…Because a guy I know who I was having a fag with the other day asked me,
“What’s the coolest thing you can do with a cigarette?”, with a sneer on his face.
And I looked him in the eye.
And I said,
“Smoke it.”
There never was a plan. There was just an ideal. One that died somewhere along the way.
And I stood over it with one hand on my chest.
And prayed for it.
To a non-existent God.
Then I went for a fag with Shayak…
”
“
You see, it’s not about the Secrets, or the Trust for that matter. It doesn’t have too much to do with the Cigarette at night when you really need it either.
It’s got a little to do with the Listening though. Despite the Eccentricities, and the Infirmities.
It’s this wonderful feeling of being able to sit on the same step in this rather poorly written Parable. Consciously and Sub-consciously, and sometimes both at the same time.
Sometimes it’s about Caring, and being Concerned, even when you don’t really have a good reason to do so. Other times it’s about watching somebody decay and wither away, and screw up their lives and still being able to walk up to them and say Hi with a smile on your face, just to see them try to light up their sodden faces with a glint of happiness.
Rarely, it’s about saying Fuck-off when it needs to be said; usually it’s about making sure you never have to.
It’s never about the Birthday Presents or the Obligations.
It’s about the Unconditionality, and it never has a reason to it. But sometimes it helps to pretend it happens for a reason, but only to make it all that more special.
It’s about Forgiving and Forgetting; and Remembering to Forget.
It’s about making your own wrong Choices and Decisions, and being allowed to make them, so that you can learn how to make the right ones.
If you’re tagged in this note, you’ve been there for me when I’ve needed somebody to talk to, or even for that matter when I haven’t, or you’ve shared a cigarette with me, or you’ve hung out with me, or you’ve tolerated me when you really shouldn’t have, or watched me get really high really fast and come crashing down, or you’ve given me opportunities to do what I really like doing, or you’ve done all of these things and more.
Well, they call that IT friendship. But it’s so much more than that. It’s Awesomeness.
And having Awesome people like you guys around makes it a very Awesome feeling to be Alive.
Thank You.
”
Random thoughts, media, links and some of my writings.
