How does 6 degrees of separation work

This amount far exceeds the total population of the planet. So the relationships that the members of the chain have in common could be compensated without problems. This concept is closely related to that of networking. At this point, the six degrees of separation theory comes into play. Think of another example: the doorman of a hotel knows the owner of the hotel.

And they, in turn, know the owner of another, more prestigious hotel. He or she, in turn, knows a senior government official who happens to know the president. As you can see, through only five connections, you have gone from the hotel doorman to the president. Having the skills to establish a relationship with anyone in a seemingly simple way is incredibly useful for professional opportunities.

Social networks have revolutionized our way of communicating. A few years ago, it was unthinkable for us to talk to our friends in almost real-time. The Six Degrees of Separation Theory 4 minutes. Investment Management. Life Sciences. Private Equity. Professional Services. Public Sector. Real Estate. Corporate Affairs. Financial Officers. Human Resources. Risk Management.

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I was reminded of this the other day when an executive I know called me to say he had just interviewed a CEO candidate. During the interview, the executive asked where the candidate lives. Networking is about using these connections to your advantage. But Columbia sociologist Duncan Watts is working to see if such small worlds really exist and how they might work.

Watts is one of the principal architects of network theory, the study of network structure and behavior. By teasing out the fundamental rules that govern networks of people, machines, companies, and economies, Watts hopes to learn more about how ideas spread, financial systems fail, and businesses survive crises.

Norton , Watts explores the cutting edge of network science and its practical implications. Following are edited excerpts of their conversation. What have you found? The notion of six degrees of separation grew out of work conducted by the social psychologist Stanley Milgram in the s. Milgram decided to investigate the so-called small-world problem, the hypothesis that everyone on the planet is connected by just a few intermediaries.

In his experiments, a few hundred people from Boston and Omaha tried to get a letter to a target—a complete stranger in Boston. But they could only send the letter to a personal friend whom they thought was somehow closer to the target than they were. When Milgram looked at the letters that reached the target, he found that they had changed hands only about six times. This finding has since been enshrined in the notion that everyone can be connected by a chain of acquaintances roughly six links long.

If this small-world hypothesis is correct, it has important implications for the nature of social networks. So, my colleagues and I are conducting an Internet experiment to try to settle the matter.

We now have over 50, message chains originating in countries in search of 18 targets around the world.

The preliminary picture is more complicated than Milgram realized, but it looks like his main finding of six degrees is in the ballpark. Researchers are studying networks of people, companies, boards of directors, computers, financial institutions—any system that comprises many discrete but connected components—to look for the common principles.

And what we seem to be finding is that the small-world phenomenon is not only real but far more universal than anyone thought. The principles that apply to social networks, and account for the six-degrees phenomenon, seem to apply to many other kinds of networks as well.

That could have implications for understanding practical problems like how ideas spread, how fads catch on, how a small initial failure can cascade throughout a large network like a power grid or a financial system—even how companies can foster internal networks to cope with crises.