How Human Societies Use Coordination Systems to Offset the Brain's Limits

The article argues that civilization can be understood as a set of coordination methods addressing the limited capacity of the human brain to track social relationships. It cites Dunbar's Number, roughly 145 monitorable social connections, as a neurobiological constraint that shapes how groups operate. According to the author, once a group grows past about 17 members, the number of mutual relationships becomes too large for any individual to manage without external systems. The piece identifies five recurring mechanisms across societies, including bureaucracy, money and taxation, moral codes, family, and honor, and contends that these structures matter more than ideological labels. It also claims that cooperation arises naturally in small groups, suggesting that behavior is shaped more by social coordination systems than by innate self-interest.