|
|
 |
Six degrees of separation theory
Originally put forward by American sociologist Stanley Milgram in 1967, the ‘six degrees of separation’ theory is that every person on Earth can be linked to any other person by just six ties. So the chances are, you’ve got a connection to a goat-herd in Outer Mongolia – but you may not know it yet!
While Milgram’s original experiment to prove his theory worked, it was conducted on a small scale. A random selection of just 96 people around the Americas had to reach their designated target through the US Mail. The messages that made it to their destination passed through an average of six people.
More recently, the Internet has allowed researchers to add significant weight to Milgram's theory. In 2003, a team at Columbia University asked 60,000 e-mail users from 166 countries to reach one of 18 target people in 13 countries around the world. The average completed chain comprised just four people. However, having factored in the drop-out rate, the researchers calculated a median chain length of between five and seven people.
|
|
 |
