Kevin Bacon: You’ve Got Mail

Can anyone in the world reach anyone else through a chain of just six friends?

In 1967, sociologist Stanley Milgram created what is known as the “small world

phenomenon,” the idea that every person in the United States is connected by a chain

of six people at most.

Milgram’s “six degrees of separation” theory has trickled down through popular

culture, inspiring renditions such as the Kevin Bacon game.

But Milgram’s theory has gone largely unproven for more than 30 years and hasn’t

yet been repeated with any success. Now, two separate research projects are using

electronic communication to test the small world phenomenon. Wired