Robert Cohen wrote:

In Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital (Journal of
Democracy [1], January 1995, Volume 6, Number 1) Putnam surveys the
decline of "social capital" in the United States of America since 1950,
which he feels undermines the active civil engagement a strong
democracy requires from its citizens. Putnam discusses ways in which
Americans have disengaged from political involvement including
decreased voter turnout, public meeting attendance, serving on
committees and working with political parties. Putnam also cites
Americans' growing distrust in their government. Putnam accepts the
possibility that this lack of trust could be attributed to "the long
litany of political tragedies and scandals since the 1960s" (par. 13),
but believes that this explanation is limited when viewing it alongside
other "trends in civic engagement of a wider sort" (par. 13).

Putnam notes the aggregate loss in membership of many civic
organizations and points out that membership has not migrated to other
organizations. To illustrate why the decline in Americans' membership
in social organizations is problematic to democracy, Putnam uses
bowling as an example. Although the number of people who bowl has
increased in the last 20 years, the number of people that bowl in
leagues has decreased. Since people bowl alone they do not participate
in social interaction and civic discussions that might occur in a
league environment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone

Putnam warns that our stock of social capital - the very fabric of our
connections with each other, has plummeted, impoverishing our lives and
communities. Putnam draws on evidence ...to show that we sign fewer
petitions, belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbors
less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our
families less often.

...changes in work, family structure, age, suburban life, television,
computers, women's roles and other factors have contributed to this
decline.

America has civicly reinvented itself before -- approximately 100 years
ago at the turn of the last century. And America can civicly reinvent
itself again;

http://www.BetterTogether.org/
http://www.bowlingalone.com/

* What does "social capital" mean? The central premise of social
capital is that social networks have value. Social capital refers to
the collective value of all "social networks" [who people know] and the
inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other
["norms of reciprocity"].

* How does social capital work? The term social capital emphasizes not
just warm and cuddly feelings, but a wide variety of quite specific
benefits that flow from the trust, reciprocity, information, and
cooperation associated with social networks. Social capital creates
value for the people who are connected and - at least sometimes - for
bystanders as well.

http://www.bowlingalone.com/socialcapital.php3

We first would need to find out what level of celebrety/leadership is
adequete for our instinctual and aquired abilites. If our instincts are
somehow tied to tribal examples then maybe we need about 100 faces we
should know. Maybe this is like our capacity to hold only up to 7
numbers in our short term memory for a time easily.

Mabey this phenomena "scales" or "tecelates" and we can have -villages-
where there are 100 (75 to 200) personalities, like Mount Olympus and
its Gods existing in a society and its personalities.

So if there are good and bad effects to this numbering of celebrety, we
need a criterion which deliniates how many, too little, too much and
consequences, bringing together and diluting. Maybe society works
better when we each play a part and maybe the spectator world this
article proposes is itself a perversion;

1 Overview of the Technique:

The jigsaw classroom is a specific cooperative learning technique with
a three-decade track record of success. Just as in a jigsaw puzzle,
each piece--each student's part--is essential for the completion and
full understanding of the final product. If each student's part is
essential, then each student is essential; and that is precisely what
makes this strategy so effective.

Here is how it works: The students in a history class, for example, are
divided into small groups of five or six students each. Suppose their
task is to learn about World War II. In one jigsaw group, Sara is
responsible for researching Hitler's rise to power in pre-war Germany.
Another member of the group, Steven, is assigned to cover concentration
camps; Pedro is assigned Britain's role in the war; Melody is to
research the contribution of the Soviet Union; Tyrone will handle
Japan's entry into the war; Clara will read about the development of
the atom bomb.

Eventually each student will come back to her or his jigsaw group and
will try to present a well-organized report to the group. The situation
is specifically structured so that the only access any member has to
the other five assignments is by listening closely to the report of the
person reciting. Thus, if Tyrone doesn't like Pedro, or if he thinks
Sara is a nerd and tunes her out or makes fun of her, he cannot
possibly do well on the test that follows.

To increase the chances that each report will be accurate, the
students doing the research do not immediately take it back to their
jigsaw group. Instead, they meet firstwith students who have the
identical assignment (one from each jigsaw group). For example,
students assigned to the atom bomb topic meet as a team of specialists,
gathering information, becoming experts on their topic, and rehearsing
their presentations. We call this the "expert" group. It is
particularly useful for students who might have initial difficulty
learning or organizing their part of the assignment, for it allows them
to hear and rehearse with other "experts."

Once each presenter is up to speed, the jigsaw groups reconvene in
their initial heterogeneous configuration. The atom bomb expert in each
group teaches the other group members about the development of the atom
bomb. Each student in each group educates the whole group about her or
his specialty. Students are then tested on what they have learned about
World War II from their fellow group member.

What is the benefit of the jigsaw classroom? First and foremost, it is
a remarkably efficient way to learn the material. But even more
important, the jigsaw process encourages listening, engagement, and
empathy by giving each member of the group an essential part to play in
the academic activity. Group members must work together as a team to
accomplish a common goal; each person depends on all the others. No
student can succeed completely unless everyone works well together as a
team. This "cooperation by design" facilitates interaction among all
students in the class, leading them to value each other as contributors
to their common task.

http://www.jigsaw.org/steps.htm