Group

Definition: As used herein, Group has two meanings -

(A) In the first sense, Group refers to 3-Groups, 12-Groups, 36-Groups, and 72-Groups, A, B and C.

(B) In the second sense, Group is a generic term that refers to two or more adult Persons up to Dunbar's Number (about 150 people including children) who know one another as Members of the Group in question and who share a degree of Social Cohesion that an Observer can notice.

Two or more adults who do not have a noticeable degree of Social Cohesion but who share other attributes - for example, common interests - may be referred to as a "set," "collection," "assembly," "Congress," "congregation," "company," "association," or by the special terms, Household, Neighborhood, Population, or Organization, or any other similar term, but not as a "Group." That term is reserved for this definition.

Note that a Group does not necessarily have Critical Mass in terms of the amount and quality of its Social Cohesion and/or number of Members and so may devolve into a set of people or go out of existence entirely. For example, a couple cohabiting, engaged, or married may start out as a Group with a degree of Social Cohesion and with the intention of being a couple permanently, but later break up and have little or no further contact. What was missing? It may have been Critical Mass.

Related terms: Dunbar's Number | Member | Observer | Person | Social Cohesion