In the plot, the protagonist proposes as a bet with his friends, that he could relate with any of the 1 500 million people from the planet (this was the world population back then) just by using 5 people. This theory for the first time in the story “Chains”, from the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy, published in 1930. Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash Discovering the origin of the theory According to the Six Degrees of Separation Theory, humanity is interconnected by a chain of no more than six contacts. And s o we get to cover the whole population of the planet which is approximately 7 700 million. The chain grows exponentially, if those 10 000 know 100 more, we get to a million of people connected on a third level, to 100 000 000 on a fourth to 10 000 000 000 on a fifth and to 1 000 000 000 000 on a sixth. If each of those people know another 100, i t is easy to contact someone or send a message to 10 000 people just by asking those we know. In this process a small number of known people is necessary to connect people who are distant.Įach person knows, between family, friends, coworkers or others, approximately 100 people. This proposal is based on the idea that the amount of known people grow exponentially with the amount of links of the chain. One of them will know X, X will know Y, and so on until the chain is no longer than 6 contacts, through which, we will find the person we were looking for.

In other words: If we want to meet someone in specific we ask our contacts. The Six Degrees of Separation tries to prove that all human beings are connected among them if we count 6 contacts (including the recipient). A concept that reinforces the idea that the world is much smaller than we imagine. But, something that appears to be from the most exact computer is actually a postulate that is around 90 years old. Precisely on the basis of this theory is that social networks work. If we consider what it proposes, just to get to know your idol, the trending politician or the most successful movie-maker, you would have to contact five people at most. That, in science, is well-know: The Six Degrees of Separation. An old saying says that we live in a small world.

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