Six Degrees of Separation amongst Actors
The Six Degrees of Separation phenomenon is perhaps one of the most interesting and counterintuitive theories in networks/sociology. The theory suggests that there is an inherent property of networks on a global scale such that the average number of steps to connect any two individuals is 6. The theory has been the subject of various experiments since its initial origins in 1929 by Frigyes Karinthy.
With the advent of the Internet and, as a result, highly accessible networks, people have gone above and beyond with putting six degrees of separation to the test. Namely, Google has implemented within its search engine an algorithm that determines any celebrities “Bacon number”. Students at Albright College who were interested in the amount of movies Kevin Bacon has appeared in originally spawned the concept as a play on the theory. They defined the Bacon number as the number of steps required to link any actor to Kevin Bacon through movies. For example, Jack Nicholson has a Bacon Number of 1 because he appeared in the movie “A Few Good Men” with Bacon. In 2012, Google incorporated the concept of Bacon numbers into its search engine. Thus, if you type any actor’s name into Google followed by Bacon number, Google will return the actor’s Bacon number and the specific steps (movies) required to make the connection.
Expanding on this idea is the website called “The Oracle of Bacon” (link below). The website follows the same idea by default displaying the link between Kevin Bacon and any other actor, but allows you to change the two actor inputs to any actors. Thus, you can find the number of steps between any two actors. The website uses IMDb as its database of actors and movies and uses a shortest-path algorithm, specifically a breadth-first search (more intricately explained on the website). The website can also list the number of actors that are x steps away from a given actor, however rather than list them by name, it encourages you to try to find them on your own (there is one actor that is 10 steps away from Kevin Bacon; compare that to the 2.9 million total actors stored on IMDb).
While there is an inherent bias in the “experiment” since it only works connecting actors to other actors, it’s an interesting test that is accessible by anyone with a computer. Try playing around with it on your own and see if you can find separations greater than six steps.
https://oracleofbacon.org/