7 steps to Whatever: linkage and you

I have noticed there has been a recent phenomenon on Forumosa that goes like this:

A sees B in real life but doesn’t know who B is.
A posts his/her dilema of wanting (to meet) said B person and describes B to the genral Forumosa public.
B is located and made aware of A’s interest (dates him for a while then A mysteriously disappears)…anyway, I digress.

or
A see blue haired B.
B throws trash on the road.
A wants to track B down and scold her, (then take her out to dinner…apparently…)

I read this book last year:

amazon.com/gp/reader/0452284 … eader-link

It was quite interesting as it showed how people are truly much more interconnected than they think. They mentioned an experiment whereby a letter was sent, hand to hand, from Ohio to Boston in about 6 links.

So I wanted to try an experiment, just to see how many links in the human chain it would take to get something from here to there.

I’m not sure how it will work, nor am I sure of the rules. I am curious to see just how far the chain of interconnectedness can go.

So, how about this? I want to send a letter to my friend in Albany, New York, from Ying Ge, Taiwan. The letter cannot be mailed and it must be hand delivered and transferred from person to person. Mind you, this is all virtual. I will assume I can drive to Taipei, for example, to pass on the letter. Also, you can call someone in the States to have them assume responsibility of the letter (that should solve some problems)

How can we do this? And in how many steps? So, we obviously need a way off the island and links to people who the letter can be transferred to.

Thanks for playing. Denial ain’t a river in Egypt.

I thought it was six degrees of separation. But anyway, if it’s all virtual, I think your friend has already received the message.

It is the same general idea. Six/Seven?/ The book suggests that the number is lower than that.

Well, my uncle lives in Niagara Falls. I might see him this summer. Is that a good start?

In the petrie dish of Taiwan - you’re really lucky if you get one degree of separation

Well, we don’t have to go in order. So thats great. Now, we have to get OUT of Taiwan. :slight_smile:

I think to make this cooler, why not lookup a random person in the US and send them the message. Maybe something like: I don’t know who you are, Mark W. Misnomer, but I know people, who know people, who do. Perhaps we could add another “who know people” for every hand the note has to pass through.

Hmm, get some ramdom guy’s adress and send emails until someone can hand deliver the message?

hmm

I’d say. :wink: