You know me, right ? Anything to further the cause of human knowledge. Except, of course, donating my body to science. Because that's just gross. If my inner organs have to spend eternity somewhere other than inside my own ribcage, they should at least be spared the pain of being sliced and diced and fondled by overachieving eighteen year olds in ill-fitting labcoats and over-priced sneakers.
But I digress. No, my contribution to science is less blood and guts intensive but no less valuable. I speak of The Small World Project at Columbia University. It is not, as the name temporarily led me to believe, a classified government project which will see every American soldier equipped with a minitiurization ray that will shrink all marauding armies and eventually all the world's people to one billionth their size so that they are more easily defeated/controlled (although, how cool would that be ?). Instead, it is an e-mail project that attempts to determine whether or not the whole "six degrees of separation" thing (cliche as it has become) is actually an accurate depiction of the world as we know it. The task is simple: you sign up, they give you the name of one of fifteen or so people who have been selected around the world and you have to attempt to start an e-mail chain that will reach that person.
So for example, I'm attempting to reach Deng Xiao Ping in China (yes, I know he's dead but making up ethnic names is fraught with significance so I pick something recognizable). I write to my buddy John Smith who lived in China. He then writes to his coworker, Mr. Chan who went to school with Mr. Deng's daughter who writes to her Dad. Voila ! the chain is finished. At least that's the idea. I previous aruns at the experiment they've noticed that sometimes the chains just stop because people are lazy and because knowing someone does not necessarily mean you can approach them about certain things (i.e. You may know your boss well but you still would probably hesitate before sending her an e-mail chain letter/scientific experiment). Interesting stuff these interpersonal relationships and social hub theories. If you're interested, I recommend picking up The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, an excellent book on the subject, although more in the pop psychology than rigorous scientific analysis vein.
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