Reading about networks I had an interesting thought in regards to the TV show CSI and a concept I had learned of from the show. Six degrees of separation is a concept developed by Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 theorizing that everyone in the world was somehow “related” (by friendship or some association) to everyone else up to the sixth degree. Essentially, a friend of a friend of a brother of a coworker…etc. This concept has been popularized in mass media. For instance, Strangers on a Train, associates to the second degree with the main characters killing the other’s enemy so as to avoid blame. This is where the show CSI brought in the example. I also recall an old teacher telling me how she and her friends played the game “Kevin Bacon” in school. The game uses the concept of six degrees of separation by naming a random movie or something in TV and the players have to relate that film or actress or director back to Kevin Bacon.
Later apparently, Microsoft used billions of messaging systems to confirm this theory. All people are connected up to the sixth degree. I am curious however as to whether or not this system works temporally. can we all be connected going back in time? If so, how many degrees? I am aware that Kindred Britain tests this idea but how closely can all human beings who ever lived be related? For the Paul Revere article, the woman was doing the same thing with her data. Using information she was not necessarily familiar with, she could form a network of relationships thereby determining how closely people were interconnected. It is a strange thought to think that we are all somehow socially related to the Pope or Queen Elizabeth II how important are these relationships? Aside from determining an immediate circle of friends why should we care how an individual is related to another? Everyone loves to learn about their own genealogy but are distant social relationships something to actually care about? Or is it just another boasting war? For past individuals and research I can understand how this would be relevant in determining social environments. The degree to which everyone knows each other is determined by how tight knit the community is. This would affect how news spreads, social views, childhood, and emotional availability of an individual. However, until we cannot interview the individual in person, I see no need for networks to be used.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/aug/03/internet.email