
The six degrees of seperation is now three - robg
http://www.o2.com/media/press_releases/latest_pr_14276.asp
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smoody
_"For example, one of the respondents Katrina, 27 from Brighton, is a
classical musician and leads a jazz band. She was asked to make contact with a
Japanese jazz singer, Natsuo Murakami, halfway across the world. She contacted
her record producer in Berlin via an email. He called his opposite number in
Tokyo who had a register of all jazz singers in the country. Therefore making
the link from Katrina to Natsuo in three personal steps."_

Whether or not their conclusion is valid, that is a terrible example for
making their case. I wonder how many steps it would have taken her to reach a
72 year old male working in a cattle processing plant in Arkansas. I suspect
her record producer wouldn't be able to help her with that one.

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themenace
Not only is it a bad example, it's cheating! The guy in Tokyo didn't know the
target personally; he just looked him up in a register. The origin of "Six
degrees of separation" presumes that each individual in the chain knows the
next link personally.

Here's how the original experiment worked: "The recipient was asked whether he
or she personally knew the contact person described in the letter. If so, the
person was to forward the letter directly to that person." (
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_world_experiment> )

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swombat
sep _a_ ration, please....

