blike Posted August 8, 2003 Posted August 8, 2003 Email users are only six mouse-clicks away from anyone else in cyberspace, a team including two Australian researchers at New York's Columbia University has found. Drawing on the six degrees of separation theory, the experiment involved more than 60,000 participants in 166 countries who registered online. Volunteers were asked to begin an email chain to reach 18 "target" people in 13 countries, including Australia. Each person in the chain was to forward the email to someone they thought would get it closer to the target. Although some message chains died out, researchers found that emails could reach their targets in an average of five to seven steps. "This study was based on a much older study conducted by Stanley Milgram in the 1950s and out of which the phrase 'six degrees of separation' is likely to have arisen," said researcher Duncan Watts, who studied physics at the Australian Defence Force Academy before further study in the US.
Dudde Posted August 8, 2003 Posted August 8, 2003 O_o I hate forwards:-p what a terrible experiment;)
Intelligence Posted August 10, 2003 Posted August 10, 2003 It is good to know that with 2 billion MORE people on the planet since this idea really became scientific reality - that we are still only 6 degrees away. Many of you saw my comment about a neural network in another column. When I read this news today on cnn.com I got thinking - It would be so cool to, merely by interviewing people and getting a list of people they can communicate with.......to begin to build a network of people. Wouldn't that be cool? I mean if one wanted to do this on a large scale it's insane. I don't mean I'm gonna do it! But that it would be an interesting thing would it not? Just imagine a website with the database and graphical GUI where you can follow your path to say....... .......Britney Spears .......President Bush Wouldn't that be kinda neat?
Kettle Posted August 10, 2003 Posted August 10, 2003 lol - you've just named 2 people that I'd want to stay waaaay the hell away from
Dudde Posted August 11, 2003 Posted August 11, 2003 I'm with kettle;) in no way would I want to associate myself with those two and besides, I'm a bit of a social outcast, I prefer to spend time with my friendly computers, not humans^_^
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