Everyone is familiar with the situation: A larger group of people plans to visit a restaurant together, but it can take time and sometimes a great deal of patience to agree on a time and place to meet. The better the participants know each other and their preferences, the faster they will reach an agreement. However, past social science experiments have demonstrated that people are only able to socialize effectively with 150–200 others without requiring rigid rules. Researchers call this Dunbar’s number.
