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"Six Degrees of Separation" is the idea that we are all connected to each other through people we know to a degree of no more than six people. That means that every person I know is one degree from me, every person they know is two degrees from me, and so on. So, if I know 100 people who all know 100 different people who all know 100 different people, etc., etc. Then, for 6 degrees, I am connected to 1 trillion people. Granted, this is over simplified and assumes none of those people know each other (which is impossible even in this example since the total population of the planet is only around 6-8 billion). But even using a smaller number, such as 10 people each, yields large amounts of potential contacts (1 million when using 10).

Just meeting someone one time does not count. So, you can not have gotten a celebrity's autograph and use them to connect you to every celebrity in Hollywood. To include a person as someone you know, they must be an acquaintance, someone you actually have at least a small connection to. On average, people are acquainted to a fair number of people, especially if they are a member of an organization, club, or church. Counting those people, high school and college classmates, and work acquaintances will probably give most people a larger number than the 100 used above, that they are acquainted to. Unlike the example above, a lot of the acquaintances might know each other. This does not pose a problem though, because all of those people will still know a lot of people that the others do not.

In 1973, Mathematician Manfred Kochen concluded that in a population the size of the United States a degree of separation of three is all that is needed if there is no social structure (meaning no caste system, or separation of people by rank or birth). If there is a social structure, then he concludes that at least one more degree is needed. Several experiments have since been conducted to determine the actual degrees of social networks, with varying results, but the degrees are always small numbers.

The term "Six Degrees of Separation" was popularized by John Guare's play of the same name in 1990, and the subsequent 1993 film starring Will Smith. Guare's play reflects on the idea that any two people are connected by no more than six other people.

In 1994, three college students expanded upon the idea and came up with the game, "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" with the goal to link Kevin Bacon to any actor using no more than six connections. The actors are connected by appearing in movies together. Subsequently this can be done to link any actor to any other actor.

The idea of "Six Degrees of Separation" illustrates how small the world really is and how people are more intimately connected than realized. Potentially, I know the president of the United States (actually, as I think about it, I can say with certainty that I am only three degrees from him), any actor in Hollywood, Bill Gates, or even you. The crux is actually finding the right path of people to follow. Maybe one day we will meet.

Learn more about this author, David Bowie.
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