Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/...rge-cities

INTRO: For most of human history, we lived in small, tight-knit groups. These family-based communities, often between 25 and 150 people, formed the backbone of survival and social interaction. Anthropological research shows that Homo sapiens evolved under these conditions, relying heavily on personal relationships, trust, and cooperation. As societies grew larger with the advent of agriculture and the formation of cities, new challenges emerged that our evolutionary makeup was never fully equipped to handle.

Humans are fundamentally social creatures, but the structure of our socialization evolved for small groups. According to Burnside, Brown, and Burger, human macroecology demonstrates that our social strategies were shaped to optimize survival in small, dispersed communities, not in modern cities' crowded, complex environments (Burnside, Brown, & Burger, 2012)

Small communities offer significant advantages. In these settings, individuals benefit from strong kinship ties, high levels of cooperation, and immediate reciprocity. Living in a small group means that social roles are clearly defined, and people directly influence group decisions. This fosters a profound sense of belonging and purpose. In contrast, large cities necessitate abstract governance systems, anonymous interactions, and hierarchical structures that can create feelings of alienation.

Despite the marvels of urban innovation, the shift to large cities has introduced significant disadvantages... (MORE - details)

Truth be told most city dwellers still live in a stable community of a few dozen regular members. Their barber, their barista, their store clerk, their mechanic, their doctor, their neighbor, their friends. There is in fact more of a sense of solidarity in these urban groups, maintaining themselves more deliberately against the constant threat of dissolution into the ubiquitous bustling crowds. When I go to my Chinese restaurant, the owner seats me and asks "The usual?" and I say "yes" and in five minutes I'm eating. There is solace and convenience in this familiarity--in being known and knowing against the context of constant public anonymity. In the city we can have our cake and eat it too--of being part of a circle of comfortable acquaintances AND a stranger titillated by the constant possibilities of other curious strangers.