|
Online Learning News and Research
|
Saturday, January 19, 2002
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,49343,00.html Kevin Bacon: You've Got Mail By Kendra Mayfield Can anyone in the world reach anyone else through a chain of just six friends? In 1967, sociologist Stanley Milgram created what is known as the "small world phenomenon," the idea that every person in the United States is connected by a chain of six people at most. Milgram's "six degrees of separation" theory has trickled down through popular culture, inspiring renditions such as the Kevin Bacon game. But Milgram's theory has gone largely unproven for more than 30 years and hasn't yet been repeated with any success. Now, two separate research projects are using electronic communication to test the small world phenomenon. Sociologists at Columbia University are testing Milgram's theory on a global scale by tracing e-mails one chain at a time. Columbia's Small World Research Project is enlisting people from all around the world to send thousands of e-mail messages to reach target individuals using only personal contacts....
Comments:
Post a Comment
Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
Online Learning Update 
