Robin Dunbar, antropólogo: "Tener una sólida red de amigos puede prolongar tu vida" | Salud | EL PAÍS English

En 1993, el cantante brasileño Roberto Carlos expresó: "Quiero tener un millón de amigos, para poder cantar más fuerte." Sin embargo, ese mismo año, en la fría y lejana Inglaterra, Robin Dunbar, un antropólogo y primatólogo de la Universidad de Oxford, declaró que tal deseo era inalcanzable. Señaló que los seres humanos no pueden mantener más de 150 relaciones significativas simultáneamente.

In the end, the song was a hit… and so was the theory of 150 friends. So much so that it became popularly known as “Dunbar’s number.”

More than 30 years have passed since then, while many things have changed. In Brazil, it’s no longer Roberto Carlos, but rather Anitta who’s the most internationally-known artist. And she doesn’t sing hymns to friendship, but danceable hits like I’d Rather Have Sex. Social media made us believe that we could have thousands of friends (with the concept of “friend” eventually changing to the concept of “follower”). The world began to move faster — people began to have less free time. The theory of “liquid modernity” became popular, which speaks of a provisional world eager for novelty, in which immutable institutions such as work, love, or friendship are transitory.