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The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 138
Visualizing the Breakthrough
Figure 12.2 — Dunbar’s Number vs. Symbolic Scaling illustrates this leap.
Without symbols, humans should plateau at ~150 relationships, equivalent to primate grooming
limits. But with gossip, art, ritual, and institutions, human networks broke through the ceiling, scaling
exponentially.
Figure 12.3 — Simulation of Cultural Transmission models this process.
In small populations, innovations are frequently lost by chance. But once groups exceed a critical
threshold, innovations accumulate and persist. Symbols were the catalysts that enabled humans to cross
that threshold.
