Twelve is the ceiling for intimacy

principle — attributed to Holly Peterson

Intimacy has an upper limit. Peterson's tables max out at ten, occasionally twelve. Beyond that number, attention splinters, voices get lost, and the dinner becomes an event. The cap is not a comfort number. It is the structural threshold where signal still holds, and protecting it is the first design decision of the evening.

She's not after scale. She's after signal.

group-size, signal