IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chsofr/v170y2023ics0960077923002904.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A spectrum of complexity uncovers Dunbar’s number and other leaps in social structure

Author

Listed:
  • Saavedra, Martín
  • Mira, Jorge
  • Muñuzuri, Alberto P.
  • Seoane, Luís F.

Abstract

How do societies become more complex? Are there specific scales at which they are reorganized into emergent entities? Social dynamics are shaped by each person’s actions, as well as by collective trends that emerge when individuals are brought together. Features like population size, polarization, cohesion, or hierarchy add nuance and complexity to social structure, and might be present, or not, for societies of different sizes. Here we show that, while societal complexity increases monotonically with population, there are specific scales at which complexity builds up faster – one of them is close to Dunbar’s number (an estimation of the number of meaningful relationships that individuals can sustain). We have observed this by measuring, as a probe across populations of varied sizes, the sociolinguistic process that has unfolded over decades within the Spanish region of Galicia. For this, we have developed a methodological tool (social complexity spectrum), inspired by theoretical considerations about dynamics on complex networks, that could be applied in further study cases.

Suggested Citation

  • Saavedra, Martín & Mira, Jorge & Muñuzuri, Alberto P. & Seoane, Luís F., 2023. "A spectrum of complexity uncovers Dunbar’s number and other leaps in social structure," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:170:y:2023:i:c:s0960077923002904
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2023.113389
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960077923002904
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chaos.2023.113389?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Josef Tkadlec & Andreas Pavlogiannis & Krishnendu Chatterjee & Martin A. Nowak, 2021. "Fast and strong amplifiers of natural selection," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-6, December.
    2. E. Heinsalu & M. Patriarca & J. L. Léonard, 2014. "The Role Of Bilinguals In Language Competition," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(01), pages 1-16.
    3. Luís M A Bettencourt & José Lobo & Deborah Strumsky & Geoffrey B West, 2010. "Urban Scaling and Its Deviations: Revealing the Structure of Wealth, Innovation and Crime across Cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(11), pages 1-9, November.
    4. José Lobo & Luís M A Bettencourt & Deborah Strumsky & Geoffrey B West, 2013. "Urban Scaling and the Production Function for Cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-10, March.
    5. Patriarca, Marco & Heinsalu, Els, 2009. "Influence of geography on language competition," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 388(2), pages 174-186.
    6. Mariamo Mussa Juane & Luis F. Seoane & Alberto P. Muñuzuri & Jorge Mira, 2019. "Urbanity and the dynamics of language shift in Galicia," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Pinasco, J.P. & Romanelli, L., 2006. "Coexistence of Languages is possible," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 361(1), pages 355-360.
    8. Danilo Bzdok & Robin I. M. Dunbar, 2022. "Social isolation and the brain in the pandemic era," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1333-1343, October.
    9. Luís F. Seoane & Xaquín Loredo & Henrique Monteagudo & Jorge Mira, 2019. "Is the coexistence of Catalan and Spanish possible in Catalonia?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    10. Daniel M. Abrams & Steven H. Strogatz, 2003. "Modelling the dynamics of language death," Nature, Nature, vol. 424(6951), pages 900-900, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Boissonneault & Paul Vogt, 2021. "A systematic and interdisciplinary review of mathematical models of language competition," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Caridi, Inés & Nemiña, Francisco & Pinasco, Juan P. & Schiaffino, Pablo, 2013. "Schelling-voter model: An application to language competition," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 216-221.
    3. Templin, Torsten & Seidl, Andrea & Wickström, Bengt-Arne & Feichtinger, Gustav, 2016. "Optimal language policy for the preservation of a minority language," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 8-21.
    4. Luís F. Seoane & Xaquín Loredo & Henrique Monteagudo & Jorge Mira, 2019. "Is the coexistence of Catalan and Spanish possible in Catalonia?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Nie, Lin-Fei & Teng, Zhi-Dong & Nieto, Juan J. & Jung, Il Hyo, 2015. "State impulsive control strategies for a two-languages competitive model with bilingualism and interlinguistic similarity," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 430(C), pages 136-147.
    6. Torsten Templin, 2019. "A language competition model for new minorities," Rationality and Society, , vol. 31(1), pages 40-69, February.
    7. Zhijun Wu, 2020. "Why multilingual, and how to keep it—An evolutionary dynamics perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, November.
    8. Qingsong He & Lingping Huang & Jing Li, 2022. "Rediscovering the Scaling Law of Urban Land from a Multi-Scale Perspective—A Case Study of Wuhan," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, June.
    9. Michail Fragkias & José Lobo & Deborah Strumsky & Karen C Seto, 2013. "Does Size Matter? Scaling of CO2 Emissions and U.S. Urban Areas," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(6), pages 1-8, June.
    10. Wenhan Feng & Bayi Li & Zebin Chen & Peng Liu, 2021. "City size based scaling of the urban internal nodes layout," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-16, April.
    11. Diana Reckien & Johannes Flacke & Marta Olazabal & Oliver Heidrich, 2015. "The Influence of Drivers and Barriers on Urban Adaptation and Mitigation Plans—An Empirical Analysis of European Cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-21, August.
    12. Chen, Yanguang, 2017. "Multi-scaling allometric analysis for urban and regional development," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 465(C), pages 673-689.
    13. Patriarca, Marco & Heinsalu, Els, 2009. "Influence of geography on language competition," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 388(2), pages 174-186.
    14. Clément Zankoc & Els Heinsalu & Marco Patriarca, 2024. "Language dynamics model with finite-range interactions influencing the diffusion of linguistic traits and human dispersal," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 97(6), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Yusra Ghafoor & Yi-Shin Chen & Kuan-Ta Chen, 2019. "Social Interaction Scaling for Contact Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-14, May.
    16. Lei, Weiqian & Jiao, Limin & Xu, Gang, 2022. "Understanding the urban scaling of urban land with an internal structure view to characterize China’s urbanization," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    17. Aguilar-Canto, Fernando Javier & Brito-Loeza, Carlos & Calvo, Hiram, 2024. "Model discovery of compartmental models with Graph-Supported Neural Networks," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 464(C).
    18. Luiz G A Alves & Renio S Mendes & Ervin K Lenzi & Haroldo V Ribeiro, 2015. "Scale-Adjusted Metrics for Predicting the Evolution of Urban Indicators and Quantifying the Performance of Cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-17, September.
    19. Parshad, Rana D. & Bhowmick, Suman & Chand, Vineeta & Kumari, Nitu & Sinha, Neha, 2016. "What is India speaking? Exploring the “Hinglish” invasion," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 449(C), pages 375-389.
    20. Tasnuva Mahjabin & Susana Garcia & Caitlin Grady & Alfonso Mejia, 2018. "Large cities get more for less: Water footprint efficiency across the US," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:170:y:2023:i:c:s0960077923002904. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Thayer, Thomas R. (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/chaos-solitons-and-fractals .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.