Many of us may have lists of contacts and followers on social media networks that extend into the thousands, but new research has found we may actually only have five real friends.我们中的许多人通讯录里的联系人和社交媒体网络上的好友可以减少到数千人，但是新的研究认为，事实上我们享有的确实意义上的朋友有可能只有5个。A team of scientists have found that while humans have the capacity to form complex layered societies, we face an upper limit to how many friends we can have in our inner circle.一个科学家团队找到，人们可以建构纷繁复杂、层次分明的社会群体，而在自己的社交圈里，我们享有的朋友数量是有下限的。They say this upper limit of five has likely gone unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years and probably governed social relationships when humans lived as groups of hunters.他们回应，几十万年来，5个朋友的下限有可能未曾转变，也许从人类集体狩猎开始，这种模式仍然掌控着人际关系。

Whenever we add someone new to our social network, they argue, each new friend is actually slightly more distant than those of the inner circle.他们指出，无论我们在什么时候从社交网络上加到新朋友，每位新朋友还是比我们圈子里的朋友要略为有距离些。It suggests that while we may have just a few friends, we can still surround ourselves with acquaintances.这指出了我们有可能只有几个朋友，但周围却环绕着一群熟人。Michael Harré and Mikhail Prokopenko, both with the University of Sydney in Australia, said while we may only have five close friends, our social network from them can extend to 132 people.来自悉尼大学的迈克尔哈雷和米哈伊尔普罗科彭科回应，虽然我们只享有5个亲近朋友，但是我们可以通过他们把自己的社交网络拓展至132人。

The researchers built computer models to analyse human social networks and then compared them to hunter-gatherer societies.研究者创立了电脑模型来分析人类社交网络，接着将分析出来的数据同收集狩猎社群展开对比。They explain that from an evolutionary perspective, it was important to have small groups of close-knit social connections when humans were on hunting expeditions and other dangerous stations.他们从演化的角度说明道，处在狩猎探险或其他危险性情况下，享有密切社会联系的小团体对人类而言是至关重要的。This would mean that we did not have to be as close with the rest of the wider group - as long as we had a strong bond with around 5 others.这意味著只要我们和5个朋友关系亲近，就需要与更好的人维持紧密联系。

Even now, as we add or follow others on social media, most new connections are made through meeting friends of others.即使现在我们不会在社交媒体上加到或注目其他人，但大部分人还是通过与其他人的朋友见面构成新的联系。Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the researchers said: conclude that humans were probably egalitarian in hunter–gatherer-like societies, maintaining an average maximum of four or five social links connecting all members in a largest social network of around 132 people.研究者在《英国皇家学会界面杂志》上写道：我们获得的结论是处在狩猎采集者之类的社会团体中，人类可能会主张平等主义，他们不会维持人均4到5个的社会联系人，把这些联系人统合一起，我们最少能将社交网络关系拓展至132人左右。As we form new connections and relationships, they become increasingly distant from our core starting group当我们建构新型相连与关系时，这些人离我们最初的核心团体更加近。

The researchers added that the social brain hypothesis describes neurologically constrained capacity for maintaining long-term stable relationships.研究者补足道，“社会化大脑假说”叙述的是保持长年平稳关系的神经控制能力。The hunter-gatherer example shows how social hierarchies can form - you only need to directly know a few people in a large group in order to become a leader figure.“狩猎者采集者”的例子证明了社会阶层是如何构成的，要沦为领导者，你只需必要理解大团体中的几个人之后可。

The researchers say that while social media is changing the number of people we can be connected to - in 2014, the mean average number of Facebook friends was 338 - it is unlikely to change the number of friends we actually have.2014年，脸书用户的平均值朋友数是338人。研究者回应，虽然社交媒体正在转变我们联系人的数量，但这不太可能不会对我们实际享有的朋友数导致影响。

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