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“Six Degrees of Separation”: Coincidental or Forseeable

Though the global social network is expansive due to the number of nodes and connections it contains, the network breaks into large components, making the world seem much smaller than it actually is.  This perceived close proximity between many nodes can be explained by the “six degrees of separation” phenomena.  Generally, this idea explains how in a network, two nodes are connected by a path with six or fewer edges.  At a smaller scale, this can idea makes sense: if two nodes share a mutual friend, they are more likely to reach each other.  This can create levels of acquaintances and connections that make many nodes reachable with short paths.  The research conducted by the University of Leicester and KU Leuven, Belgium focused on whether the “six degrees of separation” phenomenon.  Through this investigation, it was determine that networks follow a natural progression of path formation due to how information travels.  Over time, information diffuses through the network until equilibrium, in terms of hierarchy and order, is achieved.

During lectures, we discussed the “six degrees of separation” concept as well as how nodes can form paths with “friends of friends” and further until overlaps occur with such clusters.  Because of the radiating levels of “friends of friends” that continue even for those nodes, it is very likely that nodes share some overlaps in such clusters.  Therefore most nodes can be reachable in relatively short paths.  The study however brings up an interesting idea on how information is diffused and how nodes can be hierarchal, which is a point we discussed in lectures.  Nodes have often been treated as equals; if fact any scores that allow for ordering have been based on the quantity and nature of edges a node is connected with.  These findings combined with the discussions in lecture enforce the relevance of the “six degrees of separation” in network configurations as a natural but foreseeable phenomenon.

“Six Degrees of Separation: Why It Is a Small World after All.” Phys.org, Phys.org: News and Articles on Science and Technology, 19 Oct. 2017, phys.org/news/2017-10-degrees-small-world.html.

“Six Degrees of Separation.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Oct. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation.

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