Chapter 6: The Mating Game: The Extension of Umwelt in the 21st Century

In the 21st century, the average American will have approximately 290 acquaintances (Bernard et al., 1991). In the Pleistocene, when humans would have been living as hunter-gatherers, the average hunter-gather would have approximately 60 well-known acquaintances (Dunbar, 1993). In offices, schools, and universities around the country, men and women are sizing up their competition for mates, the quality of mates around them and their chances of succeeding in their mating endeavors. It is much harder to accurately find a place among 290 peers than 60, and it is even harder when the tools one has to find his or her place were made to deal with 60 people, not 290.