6 degrees of separation
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Six degrees of seperation = A mathematical theory that states that everyone in the world is seperated from every other person in the world by at most six successive "connections".
For instance, would somebody from South Africa would want to contact an Inuit in say Canada, then he would only have to find the right five other persons, liaisons, the first being one of his own acquaintances, to pass his message on.
If this sounds unrealistic to you, just think of all the people you know or have met in your entire life. Now, when you realise that each and every person on your list knows about as many other people and so on, then you will see that you have access to an immense network. Even contacting your president now seems very easy. Lots of people know someone who works for the government, from there it's only a small step.
Trivia: "Six degrees of seperation" is also a movie starring Will Smith. Look it up in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com)
For instance, would somebody from South Africa would want to contact an Inuit in say Canada, then he would only have to find the right five other persons, liaisons, the first being one of his own acquaintances, to pass his message on.
If this sounds unrealistic to you, just think of all the people you know or have met in your entire life. Now, when you realise that each and every person on your list knows about as many other people and so on, then you will see that you have access to an immense network. Even contacting your president now seems very easy. Lots of people know someone who works for the government, from there it's only a small step.
Trivia: "Six degrees of seperation" is also a movie starring Will Smith. Look it up in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com)
