Six Degrees

Stanley Milgram, the psychologist who did the obedience experiment, who shocked the world by finding that people's readiness to kill others due to authority is higher than expected, also conducted an experiment that everyone in this world is connected to each other via at least other six individuals. He named his theory Small World Phenomenon. To make it simple, you want to connect a certain Fredo Prego (names are totally fictional) and you might know Ali who knows Fatimah, who knows George, who knows Derek, who knows Stephanie, who knows Crystal, who finally, knows Fredo Prego. So, it means there are a distance of 6 persons between you and Fredo Prego.

To detail it out, you might know Ali who studies in the same college with you, Ali knows Fatimah who is his sister, Fatimah knows George who is Fatimah's friend when she was an exchange student at the US, George knows Derek, who is his childhood friend, Derek knows Stephanie who works at a certain publishing company, Stephanie knows Crystal, who is her husband's sister, and finally Crystal knows Fredo Prego who is Crystal's boss in her workplace.

Look at this map...

The implication of this is how small the world is, and if you pay a deal of concentration and effort, you can actually get connected to almost anyone in this world. Do the experiment yourself. If you have a facebook, try to find any name that is quite alien in your life. Try to click on one of his or her friends, then one of the friends of his or her friends, chances are you might just stumble upon a person who you actually know. Try it several times and see what the average number of people who connect you and the person in the beginning point.