3 ms·
If it doesn't make you uncomfortable, I'd like to know, how much siblings/cousins have you? I have the hypothesis shifting demographics made it harder for peop
by Qem 3y ago
If it doesn't make you uncomfortable, I'd like to know, how much siblings/cousins have you?
I have the hypothesis shifting demographics made it harder for people to leverage their inner social circle to bootstrap relationships. Say, if the world averaged 3 children/couple, across 2 generations that means each grandchildren will have on average two siblings and six cousins. That is a solid baseline of socialization, through their extended family people would know more people. With 2 children/couple those numbers would fall to 1 and 2, and with 1 child/couple, to 0 and 0.
People can compensate with other socialization sources, like school, but we and people we know there tend to move and drift away from each other. On the other hand, our relatives tend to stick in our lives, for better and worse.