The six degrees of separation theory is a concept that suggests that everyone in the world is connected by a maximum of six friendships. In other words, anyone can be connected to anyone else on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than six interactions. This theory was popularized in the 1960s by psychologist Stanley Milgram, who conducted an experiment to test this idea. Since then, the six degrees of separation theory has been studied in various fields, such as sociology, psychology, and anthropology, revealing the incredible network of connections that unites us all.
Stanley Milgram's 6 Degrees of Separation Theory: What's the Main Point?
The 6 Degrees of Separation theory, proposed by Stanley Milgram, suggests that everyone in the world is connected by up to six bonds of friendship. The main point of this theory is that, even in such a vast and diverse world, social distances between people are shorter than we imagine.
Milgram conducted an experiment in which he asked a group of participants to send a letter to a specific recipient, using only mutual acquaintances to deliver it. Surprisingly, the letters reached their destination on average after passing through only six intermediaries, giving rise to the theory of six degrees of separation.
This theory highlights the importance of social networks and interconnectedness between people. It shows us that, even in such a large world, we are closer to each other than we think. This highlights the importance of interpersonal relationships and how they can influence our lives in unexpected ways.
She reminds us of the importance of keeping our social networks active and cultivating friendships, as we never know what surprises these connections may hold.
Small world theory concept: connections between individuals through few intermediaries.
The small-world theory, also known as the six degrees of separation theory, is a concept that suggests that all people in the world are connected through a few intermediaries. This means that, on average, each person on the planet is separated from every other person by just six connections. In other words, the social distance between two individuals is much smaller than one might imagine.
The term "small world" was popularized by psychologist Stanley Milgram in a 1960s study in which he sent letters to people in different parts of the United States, asking them to deliver the letters to a specific recipient. Surprisingly, the letters reached their final destination on average after six intermediaries, leading to the formulation of the six degrees of separation theory.
This theory has been widely studied and debated ever since, with many researchers trying to understand how social media and modern technology influence connections between people. With the rise of social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, social distances seem to have narrowed even further, making the world even smaller than previously thought.
She reminds us that even in such a vast and diverse world, social distances are shorter than we imagine, and that we are all closer than we think.
The theory of six degrees of separation
Since the dawn of humanity, people have needed to come together to survive. From prehistoric family groups to today's megacities, home to millions of people, our history and development as a species is due to the collective effort to survive and thrive. And in this effort, each of us weaves our own network of contacts, which in turn have their own. And today, in a globalized and interconnected society, it's not impossible to imagine that we could actually reach out to someone.
This thought has led some researchers to develop different theories that attempt to reflect the possibility that, in reality, we are all interconnected. One of the theories that has been discussed in this regard is the theory of six degrees of separation , which we will talk about next.
The theory of six degrees of separation: origin and basic idea
The so-called six degrees of separation theory is a theory that states that anyone can be interconnected with anyone else from anywhere in the world. through a chain of contacts that does not exceed six people; therefore, there are only five points of union between them.
Although it seems like an idea of a globalized world like that of today's society, the truth is that it is a theory that originated in the proposal for the first time in 1929, its author being the writer Frigyes Karinthy and appearing in his publication Currents (currents, in English).
The original idea makes sense and is viable: we meet a large number of people in our daily lives (later authors like Watts suggest about a hundred), and you, in turn, meet many others, who in turn will also meet many others. In the long run, the number of interconnected people would increase exponentially, making it easier and easier to find contacts in common with the target subject over time, and over time, if we wanted to send a message, it would be enough to follow this chain.
Social connection points
However, the fact that only six jumps are necessary is more difficult to prove. The specific number of "jumps" was the subject of fierce debate until 1967, when the renowned psychologist Stanley Milgram (the man behind the Milgram obedience to authority experiment) conducted a series of experiments trying to resolve the unknown. to the extent that it was called “the world’s little problem” .
In one, Milgram randomly assigned different people a series of letters to send to an unknown person in Massachusetts, only through their acquaintances. Although many of the letters never arrived, among other reasons because many participants didn't forward them or their contacts didn't keep trying, in the cases where they did, an average of six letters were counted.
Milgram's experiments in this regard may not be representative, but later other investigations (and some relatively recent ones, like one in 2001) have been performed that seem to show that the number of hops needed, while not absolute, on average is still close to six hops
- You may be interested in: "The Milgram Experiment: The Danger of Obedience to Authority"
Theory in the Information Society: Six Steps (or Clicks) Away
Time has passed since the theory was first proposed, and many social and technological advances have emerged since then. Among them, we can find the appearance of the Internet and social networks , which facilitate interaction between people from all over the world. Thus, it can now be even easier to establish contact between people who are distant and different from each other.
Furthermore, the use of these networks allows not only contact but also the calculation of the distance between people: LinkedIn and Facebook are examples of this. However, the data obtained show that the six degrees of separation theory may have evolved over time, with the distance being much smaller today. For example, a 2011 study by the University of Milan and several Cornell researchers shows that the distance between two people on Facebook is 3,74 people .
Other difficulties
We can't help but point out that, while this theory may be somewhat tenable, we must keep in mind that there are many variables that can influence the specific number of hops: it's not the same thing to contact someone from your favorite city who is from another continent or who speaks another language.
The difficulty also varies depending on whether the person is more or less well-known at a popular level or whether or not they share a hobby or job. Another problem is found in the media: today we can generate more diverse contacts thanks to new technologies , but those who don't have them don't like this option.
Finally, it is different to get in touch with someone in a city than in a town with few inhabitants and, if we go to the extreme, we will find it much more difficult to enter em contact with a subject in situations such as war, extreme poverty, or famine. Or if one of the two extremes (the one initiating the search for contact or its goal) is a member of an indigenous tribe or a culture isolated from the rest of the world.
The usefulness of this theory
Reading this theory may seem interesting on an informative level, but the truth is that it is not just a curiosity: it has its uses in several sectors.
One of them is the work networks in the corporate world , allowing you to study how to build client portfolios and contacts that can facilitate communication. It can also be applied in marketing and advertising, taking into account the formation of contact chains when promoting the sale of a service or product. Familiar word of mouth can also be linked to this factor.
Finally, we can also find utility in the six degrees of separation theory at the educational level: it can be explored and taken into account when transmitting prosocial values, prevention programs (e.g., sex education, drug prevention, or gender-based violence prevention), or information.
References:
- Watts, DJ (2006). Six Degrees of Separation. Network Science in the Access Age. Paidos Editorial.