All the People

Anthony Trotz went first to the politician, Mike Delado.

"How many people do you know, Mr. Delado?"

"Why the question?"

"I am wondering just what amount of detail the mind can hold."

"To a degree I know many. Ten thousand well, thirty thousand by name, probably a hundred thousand by face and to shake hands with."

"And what is the limit?"

This is the beginning of R. A. Lafferty's story "All the People". It doesn't have much of a plot; it occupies itself with describing how weird would be for a person to know all the people in the world. In a way, the story anticipates the concept of Dunbar's number.

I wonder what kind of social processes take place when a small business expands, the number of its staff growing beyond Dunbar's number. It must be a critical phase, something like the social equivalent of breaking the sound barrier: the shock can be dangerous if the structure isn't sturdy enough.