The power of connection :
SPOTLIGHT :
We inhabit a world that is deeply interconnected socially . As a species , this connectedness allowed us to survive and brought us to where we are today . Choose anybody in the world , the Dalai Lama , the King of England , a gondolier in Venice or a shepherd in the Andes , and we are apparently separated by six or fewer other people .
This concept of six degrees of separation , also known as the six-handshakes-rule or the “ small world phenomenon ”, was initially set out in a 1929 short story by Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy .
Karinthy added that the modern world was “ shrinking ” because of the ever-increasing connectedness of human beings due to technological advances . Several research studies , some relatively recent using social media data , have proven this inter-connectedness . Mathematicians have built models around the concept .
Yes , we are close in terms of social connectedness . But we are also related !
The power of connection :
How our social ties bring us together
By Izak Smit , PPS Group CEO
Discover the fascinating interconnectedness of the human species and how our social ties have shaped the world we live in today . From the concept of six degrees of separation to our shared ancestry , delve into the power of connection and explore how it has both benefitted and challenged us throughout history .
We have two parents , four grandparents , eight greatgrandparents and so on , forming an exponential series : 2 , 4 , 8 , 16 , 32 , 64 , 128 , 256 , 512 , 1 024 ... Very soon , within 33 generations , which is less than the number of generations in a millennium , the last number in this series will be more than the human population on the planet ( eight billion +). Of course , it is not this simple , as ( first / second / third / fourth / etc .) cousins intermarry . But if we go sufficiently far back , everybody ’ s ancestors are shared .
And sufficiently far is not very far – even quite disparate people share recent ancestors . Genealogists
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