Forming a Society

It’s funny how small group trips can teach you big lessons about life.

Last week, I went on a trip to the Swiss countryside with four of my close friends. To make things interesting, we decided to make all decisions by majority vote. So whether it was choosing a path to take or picking a restaurant, if something got three or more votes, we did it.

At one point, we even decided to hike two hours downhill from Grindelwald without any hiking gear; just because the majority voted for it :))

Later, as we headed back to the car, we voted again. Three of us wanted to take the cable car down, but the other two decided to bike instead.
That’s when the three of us joked about creating a punishment for not following the majority: whoever disobeyed would have to pay for the next group meal. (Obviously, it was all for fun.)

But in that moment, I realized something: we had formed a very basic kind of society. And it made me think more deeply about how societies come together.

One thing that stood out was how we started simple and only added rules as new situations came up.
It’s the idea of starting small, then iterating and adapting based on real needs.
That’s also a principle I like to follow when designing and programming.

I was thinking, if building a society with friends on a trip works this way, how different is it from building a real one?