Six Degrees of Separation

It amazes me how small the world is.

I went to a braai yesterday courtesy of Foxy Roxy. And while there, a group of people came around, they were all from out of town. It amazed me that, even though they were all complete strangers, when people started talking; somehow they were all connected.

Striking up conversation, Dan (Skinstad) started chatting to one guy and not long into it he found out that the guy he was chatting to is really good friends with a cousin of his. Later, I started speaking to another guy named Paul, whom I find out is the drummer of a band called Southern Gypsy Queens and works quite often with my other brother, Bryan back home in PE.

From last nights experience, the whole social concept that everyone is separated by only six steps became even less far-fetched in my mind. Consider the following exercise, how many steps do you think it would take to link yourself up to someone like Leonardo DiCaprio, a famous Hollywood actor (I use this example because when I was a kid I would have thought that this link was impossible to establish)?

For me it is only two degrees of separation, as my good mate Action Dan worked as Leo's stunt double on Blood Diamond, from Leo I'm sure it is only a couple of steps to all the other members of the entertainment industry.
Taking that example into consideration, it's not difficult for me to imagine how I could indirectly be linked to everyone across the globe.

I'm always fascinated by the dynamics of social networks and how we could all somehow be interconnected. The world may seem big, but in the end I reckon we're a closer knit tribe than you'd expect.